Mikayla Victoria Simpson better known as Koffee, is a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, rapper, deejay and guitarist from Spanish Town, Jamaica. Born February 16, 2000, she released her debut single “Burning” in 2017 at the age of 17.
Koffee may be small in stature, but her modesty is no match for her big vocals and lyrical ingenuity. The 5’0, self-described “sing-jay-guitarist” is one of the most exciting, forward-thinking, globally focused teenage talents to emerge out of Jamaica.
Koffee was raised by her hard-working mother, her father having left for New York when she was an infant. “Mummy struggled so I didn’t have to,” remembers Koffee.
An occasional actress who works for the Ministry of Health and who gives sex education and body positivity talks to young people, Koffee’s mum sheltered her daughter from a lot of the violence that afflicted their community. “I was aware of curfews and shootings growing up, but it wasn’t necessarily a reality for me because I didn’t experience anything directly,” she says. “I would hear about gunshots over in [neighboring] Gordon Pen, but where I live, in Eltham View, it’s a mellow vibe. It’s a pretty friendly community, we know each other for the most part and we get along well.”
Koffee’s first musical inspiration stemmed from her mother’s religious background. She sang in her church choir, taught herself guitar at the age of 12 on an instrument borrowed from a friend, and began writing lyrics inspired by listening to reggae singer Protoje.
Though she was able to avoid explicit scenes of bloodshed, the socio-political problems that permeate parts of Jamaica have seeped into her music, helping to make Koffee the artiste she is today. “With a lot of my music, it’s about entertaining people while highlighting problems in order to try and find a solution. I genuinely want to make the world a better place,” she stated.
Awareness of the violence and social problems she witnessed growing up has influenced her lyrics, and besides Protoje and Chronixx she has cited Super Cat and Giggs among her musical inspirations.
Koffee gained popularity after uploading a video to Instagram of her singing in 2017 she released her first single, “Legend”, with just her voice and acoustic guitar. A tribute to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the song became a viral Instagram hit, once the athlete reposted it on his own Instagram.
Since then, Koffee has continued to bless us with amazing reggae hits such as “Toast” which became number 1 as the best result in the weekly music chart Jamaican Top 40 Top Chart and spent 185 weeks on the listing. The song was also listed on President Obama’s 2018 playlist. Other top hits include Pressure featuring Buju Banton, Lockdown, Lonely, Blazin and West Indies.
Her 2019 EP Rapture won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making Koffee the youngest person, and only woman to be to be awarded in the Best Reggae Album category.
Koffee was a musical guest on Nick Cannon’s sketch comedy and improv television series Wild ‘N Out which aired on February 18, 2020.
In October 2020, Koffee was named by Elle magazine as one of “10 Trailblazing Women Changing The Future You Need To Know”, the others being: Mowalola Ogunlesi, Tobi Kyeremateng, Ngozi Onwurah, Simi Lindgren, Balanda Atis, Magdalene Abraha, Holly Fischer, Celeste and Margaret Busby.
Her debut full-length album, Gifted, was released on 25 March 2022 to positive reviews.
