Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, one of the UK’s top artists and repertoire executives and former president of Columbia Records UK, has rubbished claims that reggae artiste Koffee was dropped by RCA Records.

Allegations that Koffee, who won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2020 — the youngest person and only woman to do so — was dropped by RCA, dominated blogs in recent weeks.

In an interview with the
Jamaica Observer’s
Splash on Wednesday, Unger-Hamilton said: “Koffee is, and has always been, signed with Promised Land Records. Promised Land’s deal with Sony ended over two years ago, and we [Promised Land] are now distributed through Virgin,” Unger-Hamilton stated.

Promised Land Records had a distribution deal with the Sony-affiliated RCA and Columbia. Koffee was never directly signed to either label.

Koffee’s two projects, 2019’s
Rapture EP and 2022’s full-length project
Gifted, were both released by Promised Land Records, which is owned by Unger-Hamilton.

He stepped down as president at Columbia Records in late 2022.

During his six years at Columbia UK, Unger-Hamilton scored chart success with the likes of Robbie Williams, Rag‘n’Bone Man, and George Ezra.

Prior to his stint at Columbia UK, Unger-Hamilton worked at Island Records, and then moved on to Polydor for seven years as president, where he oversaw the success of Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, Take That, The 1975, among other stellar British acts.

Asked by
Splash what’s in the pipeline for the enigmatic Koffee, all Unger-Hamilton was prepared to say was: “New music is coming very soon.”

Hailing from Spanish Town, St Catherine, Koffee — real name Mikayla Victoria Simpson — turned 25 years old last February. She released her debut single
Burning in 2017.

Ferdy Unger-Hamilton.

Koffee after copping the Grammy Award for Best Reggae album in 2020.