Spotify has announced independent Ghanaian singer and songwriter Kofee Bean as the second Fresh Finds Africa Artist.
Fresh Finds Africa is a monthly programme, with a new artist selected every month by the Spotify music team, and forms part of Spotify’s continued commitment to support the African music industry, through initiatives such as EQUAL and Radar.
Launched in March 2022, the Fresh Finds Africa Artist is a programme with the singular focus of giving independent artists the tools they need to grow their audiences and expose them to new audiences.
Patience Naa Oyo Titus-Glover, also known as Kofee Bean, is on a mission to take her place within the alternative music space on the continent and in the diaspora. She began singing and writing songs and poetry at the age of seven before becoming a singer with a Ghanaian band called Made Africa. She subsequently formed her own live band, which went on to perform at various events.
Having decided to pursue her dreams as a full-time artist, and fueled by the desire to tell stories through her music, Kofee Bean launched her debut track in 2021, titled Breathing – featuring rapper Kiddblack – which caught the ear of Spotify’s editors.
“We are continuously on the lookout for promising artists under the different hubs we have at Spotify and we want to showcase and offer them social support to grow their music careers,” says Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa.
She also indicated that Fresh Finds Artists also get one-on-one training on the best practices for using the Spotify platform and in-app.
“Globally, the performance of Fresh Finds artists has been astonishing. Since its global launch in 2016, Fresh Finds has playlisted over 25,000 artists, with their average monthly listeners increasing by 108 percent within a month of their songs being included in the playlists. This is the type of growth that Fresh Finds Africa artists like Kofee Bean can expect,” adds Okumu.
Drawing her inspiration from formidable female artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Sade, and Aṣa, Kofee Bean creates her music using several elements from the different genres she grew up with, such as Neo-Soul and R&B.
Touching on the recognition, Kofee Bean said: “I feel honoured and grateful to be viewed in such a light by Spotify, even at the beginning of my career, and it’s definitely a confidence booster in my sound and my artistry, and for people who love and are creating this sound as well.”
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