When Kofi Stone was a kid he was already doing rap battles in the playground. The Birmingham artist’s dedication to his craft meant he started recording songs aged 13, soon Sellotaping his image on to cassette tapes, then taking to the streets to try and sell his CDs. He released his debut album in 2019, the gleaming Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does, on his own label, Tru Community.
Since then, Stone has only acquired more confidence and verve. Earlier this month he dropped his second full-length release, A Man After God’s Own Heart, embodying a richer, more assured sound: take the majesty of the Mr Vegas interpolation on King David Flow, or the ruminative love song Lavender. There’s also a feature from none other than Benjamin Zephaniah: a month before his death last year, the much-loved poet recorded his part on May Sound Crazy, a clear-eyed ode to growing up in their shared home city.
It was poetry that inspired Stone to begin writing songs in the first place, and while Zephaniah’s presence on the track is formidable, it also highlights Kofi Stone’s growing status as a compelling Black British storyteller in his own right. From the schoolyard years to the present day, he has levelled up: these are accomplished songs with engaging bars about place, love, faith, politics and people, all told with his affable, flexible delivery over a cosy boom-bap glow.