Ras Kofi

RAS KOFI



While the borders that separate musical genres continue to fade, on the rise is a new genre known simply as “good music”. Rising out of this borderless musical landscape is Ras Kofi, a child of the hip hop generation, a product of the rising reggae revolution and an offspring of South America’s political landscape…all of which have shaped his musical offering on the forthcoming album titled Sound Roots produced by gold selling musical childhood prodigy, The Boyz, now known as the Sunz Of Light. . Molded by his Rastafarian spiritual groundation and his vivid experiences as a world traveler Ras Kofi’s music, escaping modern classifications, blends reggae chanting, rapping and singing with lyrics that vividly tell stories, uplift the mental and heal the soul.



Imagine the colorful stories grandma use to tell set to the melodic music of reggae, hip hop with jazz inflections and you have the universal makings of this modern day musical griot. With titles like, “The Healers”, a soothing lullaby celebrating our ability to heal, and “Family Life”, featuring long time Jamaican sound system crooner, Scion Success and “Hold On To Your Culture” a non preachy directive celebrating our cultural past, Ras Kofi’s music are modern urban lullabies that touch the soul, move the body all while urging you to think. His music, a showcase of his lyrical gifts and production savvy will have you reminiscing about the days of old at times, while other times making you think about the perplexities of the socially imbalanced urban landscape on which we find ourselves a part of. But most of all his music takes us on a beautiful and danceable ride to a place of deep thought and reflection.



High School Teacher at one of Atlanta’s inner city high schools, lecturer and radio personality by day, this Guyanese born and bred musical revolutionary is a songwriter, producer and entertaining stage performer by night. On a journey that began at birth, Ras Kofi’s was raised in a politically charged household on the forefront of the often tumultuous nature of Guyanese politics. As a child he was greatly influenced by the harsh reality of South American politics and the soft and comforting beauty of a nurturing village in which nature and all things African were revered. The landscape of sunny California and later the southern tradition of Augusta, Georgia would later add to the foundation of what would be his first musical journey as an artist/lyricist in the legendary hip hop group, The Black Ingels. With a deeply rooted underground following from one end of Georgia to the other, The Black Ingels were ahead of their time, blending socially conscious lyrics in a hip hop, reggae and jazz stylee.



With a musical collection that includes everything from Donny Hathaway, to John Coltrane to Bob Marley to Buju Banton to KRS One and the traditional riddims from South America to Africa you can only begin to get the picture of the many and varying influences that have given birth to this modern day mic chanter and musical griot. A devout traveler, in any given year, he can be found rocking the mic in the townships of South Africa, hills of Tanzania and Kenya, villages in Guyana, pon the lawns and beaches in Jamaica, in the dirty south and the up and down the east and southern coasts. He has shared the stage with the likes of the Last Poets, Mutabaruka, Luciano, Sizzla, KRS-One, Pharoh Saunders and many more.



Even on the first listen, Ras Kofi’s music is strangely familiar to our soul. Reminiscent of a long lost cousin, who arrives to tell us stories of our past, present and the beauty and potential of a future filled with Universal love and void of all barriers and borders, Ras Kofi’s music is simply “good music”. Good for the soul.