Billboard Magazine has hailed Jamaican reggae artiste Koffee for her massive global impact by including her in the list of ’21 Under 21′ artistes of 2020.
The reggae star is among other famous musicians like as Billie Eilish, Lil TJay, and Chloe x Halle.
Billboard noted that, “Three weeks before turning 20, the multi-talented artiste born Mikayla Simpson made history at the 2020 Grammys: She not only became the first female artiste to win best reggae album in the award’s 35-year history but also the category’s youngest winner of all time.”
Koffee’s breakout single “Toast” ascended her to global superstardom in 2019, even landing on the summer playlist of former US President Barack Obama. In February, her debut Ep, ‘Rapture’ beat out projects by Third World, Steel Pulse, Sly & Robbie, and Julian Marley to take the reggae Grammy award.
When she was asked, “What’s the most powerful thing about being a young artiste in the music industry?”, her response was: “This is a big opportunity for me, a big platform that I can use to set an example for those that are younger than me. To keep things positive and inspire others to reach their full potential — it’s a huge responsibility, and I want to do a lot of good with it.”
Although she has yet to release a debut album, Koffee has already amassed a grand total of 189.2 million streams.
She has kept busy this year with a slew of singles, like Repeat with UK star J Hus and the Pressure remix with reggae legend Buju Banton. Her summer hit song, “Lockdown” also made her the first Jamaican artist to receive over 1 million views on YouTube in 48 hours.
Billboard said the list was combined based on (among other things) “career trajectory; reputation among peers; and overall impact in the industry, specifically during the past 12 months.”