THE GLEANER, MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | ENTERTAINMENT B6 Sade Gardner/Staff Reporter IT’S A misty Saturday evening in IrishTown, St Andrew, where Grammy Award-winning phenom Koffee is performing x10, the opening track for her debut album, Gifted. She’s singing about remaining grounded despite having more money in her pocket, and acknowledges God for keeping and blessing her. When she gets to a lyric about her mother saying she’d be proud no matter what she did, Koffee gets tearyeyed and stops singing. It’s a moment not only caught by the audience, but her mother, Jo-Anne Williams, whose eyes make four with her daughter as they share an emotional moment. Koffee takes the tune from the top, and later does an encore, to the delight of those at the private album listening party at Craighton Estate, powered by AmazonMusic. “I raised her in the church, I still am in the church,” Williams told The Gleaner. “As much as persons would see her out there, she’s a God-fearing girl, and it means much to me when I see and hear things like this. It reminds me of the scripture in Proverbs: ‘train up a child in the way they should go...’ I feel good that I did my part in raising her the way that I knew how, as best as I could. It made me feel really, really good to hear that. I know this; but to hear her saying it, it warms my heart.” HER FAVOURITE Koffee references her mother several times throughout the 10-track album, and whileWilliams said she loves all the songs, x10 is currently her favourite. “I’m just really, really blessed to be the mother of this young lady. And when I see her humility, it just reminds me of the fact that she never forgets where she’s coming from,” she said. “I don’t think she’ll ever forget where we’re coming from. It’s been a journey.” Speaking to TheGleaner, Koffee shared why it was important to pay homage to her mother on Gifted. “My mom raised me as a single parent and I think everything that I know, I was taught by her,” she said. “All my qualities, the things that keep me grounded, [and the] things that giveme strength, come from what I learnt from my mom, so I always find it necessary to just give her that highlight. I don’t know how many parents get the appreciation from their kids, but I just try tomake her feel the impact of what she’s done for me.” The 22-year-old is all grown up on Gifted. Compared to her first and last body of work, Rapture, which won the 2020 Grammy award for Best Reggae album, Gifted oozes a Koffee who has carved her own signature, genredefying sonic, working with producers such as Dane Ray, Iotosh, Jae5 and Nathaneal ‘Nvtzz’ Brown’. “One of my favourite things about Gifted is that it’s kinda just lined with songs that I really enjoy singing and performing,”she said. “I feel like, for me, that was really important, because I remember performing Rapture and being like, yo, some of dem songs yah kinda really hard fi sing over and then, in the end, there’s a message to it; but am I really feeling it and are the people really feeling it? So, mi kinda try fi bring it round more to what I was genuinely feeling in Gifted, and in a way that people can also relate to…” The album also bears a side of Koffee who isn’t afraid of being vulnerable, evident on songs like Lonely, which explores the nuances of love and relationships. She was also intent on not curating a dense set, including songs which encourage youth to steer clear of criminal activity and actualise their full potential, despite the odds. This, she says, ties in with her purpose of being a voice for youth. The set is rounded out with songs that serve as an ode to her journey, like the album title track and Where I’m From, and prereleases Pull Up, West Indies and Lockdown. Gifted is slated for release on March 25 by Sony Music UK and RCA Records. An accompanying tour will follow, beginning April in the United States. sade.gardner@gleanerjm.com Koffee pays homage to mother on ‘Gifted’ Jo-Anne Williams, Koffee’s mother (left) gets comforted by close friend of the family, Ingrid Melville-Sharpe. STEPHANIE LYEW Background vocalists Natascia Bryan (left) and Ovasha Bartley became one with the lyrics and rhythm as they supported Koffee on stage. Grammy Award-winning artiste Koffee makes her entrance on stage during a private listening party for her debut album ‘Gifted’. STEPHANIE LYEW TRIBUTES CONTINUE to flow following the passing, last Thursday night in Georgia, USA, of veteran reggae singer and patriarch of Morgan Heritage singing group, Denroy Morgan. Minister of Culture Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, noting that the 76-year-old Morgan was one of the artistes whomade reggae internationally famous, said: “It is sad to receive this news just as we have closed a successful Reggae Month. Denroy Morgan was unique. We will never see anyone like him again, whether in reggae music or in Jamaican life, but I give thanks that his musical legacy will live on in his children.” She added, “I send my condolences, love and respect to the Morgan Heritage family. To Denroy, my brother, sleep in peace in Zion.” On Saturday morning, Denroy’s son, Gramps, wrote on social media, “A man from Clarendon, Jamaica, West Indies, my father @ rasdenroymorgan your works live on #rastafari. Help me celebrate him, his life and his music. He worked up to the last day. UNBELIEVABLE.” Shaggy spoke gloriously of Denroy Morgan. “I had the pleasure of rehearsing at their Brooklyn studios in the early ‘90s and was moved by his love and devotion to his family … the Morgan Heritage band, which consisted of his children as bandmembers, all stellar musicians, continue to be a force to be reckoned with. He will be terribly missed! Condolences to the Morgan family. Our culture mourns this loss!” Shaggy said. Denroy Morgan was born in May Pen, Clarendon, on May 15, 1945, and moved to the USA in 1965. There he registered at the New York School of Music, where he briefly studied guitar and piano, before starting the Mad Creators and Black Eagles bands. Morgan then launched a successful solo career, releasing his Billboard chart-topping hit I’ll Do Anything for You and an album of the same name. In 1984, he became the first reggae artiste to be signed to RCA Records and later released the reggae album MakeMy Day. Morgan also became the silent driving force behind a growing empire of reggae artistes, namely, his own children. While touring and recording, he saw their musical aptitude and interest, so he put his own musical career on hold in order to build on their talents. The efforts paid off handsomely, and his children formed several groups, including The Dreads, LMS, and the internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning roots and culture band Morgan Heritage. SPIRITUAL CALLING In 1975, Morgan had a spiritual calling that inspired him to become a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel Rastafari group, and in the ‘70s and ‘80s his home in Brooklyn, NY, was a hub for Twelve Tribes. Morgan was also ambassador for the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North and South America, and he ministered regularly to inmates at the Devens Federal Bureau of Prisons in Massachusetts. In 2016, he was awarded the Key to the City of Brooklyn in recognition of his support for culture. Throughout his life, Morgan was a stern advocate for the legalisation of cannabis, and it was one of his greatest joys when it was decriminalised in Jamaica and around the world. In 2006, he began to champion and lead the All Mansion campaign, which worked for the unification of various Rastafarian organisations and communities worldwide. After being ordained a bishop, he started the Abrahamic Covenant Family Ministry that created the petition for the United Nations to make November 2, the coronation day of HIM Haile Selassie I, an international holiday. Denroy Morgan is survived by his widow Hyacinth, his 30 children, 104 grandchildren and 15 greatgrandchildren. Denroy Morgan was unique – Grange Reggae icon Denroy Morgan was an ambassador for the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North and South America.. FILE
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