Kosi

Kosi (née Akosua Gyebi) is a New York City  based singer/songwriter with nappy hair and jazz roots. Although she  always brings just a little drama to her compositions and  interpretations, she’s more than just a drama queen. She’s got piercing  eyes and a voice that’s larger than her body. But, small as she is, she  won’t fit in a box. She switches styles more quickly than you can  follow, from jazz, to rock, then folk, but never more than a few steps  away from the blues.

She cites Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone as her main influences, and  has been compared to Tracy Chapman, India Arie, Ma Rainey, and Bessie  Smith. However, despite her comparisons and influences, everything about  Kosi, from her nappy hair to her sometimes bare feet, from her  occasionally jarring lyrics to her now-she’s-sweet-now-she’s-screaming  dramatic interpretations, radiates authenticity. “I am not creating  anything,” she says, “nor am I deconstructing anything. I am neither an  iconoclast nor a follower. I am simply myself, and that is enough.”  She’s more than enough. You definitely want to hear this girl sing… if  you can handle it.

Kosi’s fifth and latest album, Stranger in Every Town, a concept album about the joys, pains, and existential terror of touring independently, was released on Nov 4, 2018 on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and all other platforms. Her fourth album, I Know Who I Am,  is also a concept album telling the story of guilt, absolution, love,  and self-actualization through original jazz and negro spirituals. Along  with her third album, Ghosts Appearing through the Sound, which is a tribute to Abbey Lincoln, and her first two albums, Pictures of Us and One More Cup of Coffee,  each of which is comprised of eight of Kosi’s original songs and two  jazz standards, it is available for purchase or download on Amazon, CDBaby, Bandcamp, and on her website: kosi-sings.com.