Gloom, thrill on Koffee’s Grammy day
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The death of American basketball legend Kobe Bryant on January 26 threatened to ruin the Grammy experience for Jamaican sensation Koffee who eventually won for the Best Reggae Album.
The 19-year old told journalists during a press briefing inside the VIP Lounge at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on Monday that her Grammy day began very early as she could not sleep. She tried calming her nerves with a call to her mother Jo-Ann Williams before her glam squad arrived to get her prepared for the day. She was one her way to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the event when the news came that Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
“About a minute and a half into the drive we got the terrible news that Kobe had passed away and that changed the whole mood for the entire day. It was already a gloomy morning, it wasn’t very sunny and that changed the entire mood. We went along the day and did what we needed to do to get along but it was heavy for us. It was definitely quite an experience to be in LA on that day,” Koffee shared.
Thankfully for the artiste the gloom of the day dissipated somewhat when she was announced winner of the Best Reggae Album Grammy, making her the youngest and first female to win in this this category.
Koffee’s Rapture emerged on top in a category which included luminaries Third World, Steel Pulse, Sly & Robbie and Julian Marley. The five-track EP contains her tracks Blazin, Throne, Rapture, Raggamuffin, as well as her breakout hit Toast.
Richard Johnson