I’ve said it countless times off record, and it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t say it here: the British music scene is criminally slept on. Drake’s thankfully done his part to try and change that, but even artists he’s cosigned haven’t been able to fully break through here in America. Virtually unmatched in his versatility, and even without a major cosign I’ve seen yet, I genuinely think Kojey could be the British MC to finally crack the code.
I found out about Kojey from scrolling through the subreddit r/socialistmusic, where someone posted a link to the music video for his song “Open Hand.” I watched it and immediately fell down the rabbit hole, watching at least 5 more of his music videos and a couple interviews, angry that I hadn’t found out about him earlier. He’s released a couple other dope singles so far this year, but I basically had this one on repeat for an entire week after it dropped.
The video’s impeccable as usual, and the beat has this ethereal bell melody that fits perfectly with the rest of what sounds to me like more UK drill-inspired elements. The subject matter touches on things like fake Black Lives Matter supporters and people flexing jewelry while they’re in debt, with some crazy flow switches thrown in too. He also dropped a sequel to this a couple days ago that’s just as good. Kojey’s definitely somebody you should keep your eye on.
Originally published at https://wspus.org/2020/10/our-new-journal-world-socialist/.