The Song:
With a string of SXSW performances in his future, a mtvU.com Freshmen Five victory under his belt, and a highly acclaimed new album, Robots & Dinosaurs, still directly in his rearview, Washington D.C. multi-talent Kokayi continues to stay active. With a recently released video and remix for the lead single from R&D, Kokayi is excited to drop the latest single from the album, “Nicotine.” “This song tells the story of love lost for the protagonist, conveyed in 3 stages of his life: ages nine, 16, and 23,” explains Kokayi. “I used some personal experiences and put myself in the shoes of someone who thought they found true love, but the sentiment was never returned until it was too late.”
The song begins with a staggeringly eerie piano, accompanied by a minimalist drum pattern, stuttering, warbled bass, and crunchy guitar as the track builds and continues to develop, climaxing at the chorus as Kokayi sings, “She’s a real good lover, and a real good friend/ That type of girl that’ll never let you drown out in the deep end/ The type you give your heart to, but that all depends/ ‘Cause she might light you up, and breathe you right on in.” Where many have tried and failed (read: writing love songs, especially those of the darker variety) Kokayi succeeds. “The most challenging part of writing unrequited love songs is to not come off as mad corny,” says Kokayi, acknowledging the difficulties many artists often face when tackling such a subject. “The cornball, Herb Tarleck label is never the one you want as an artist. Especially in this genre of music to be mad sappy is a no-no. Unless it’s overly done and then done tastefully bad.”
While continuing to promote Robots & Dinosaurs, Kokay also remains busy collaborating with other artists. First, Kokayi worked with fellow DC artist’s Tabi Bonney and Wale on tracks from Tabi’s recent album, and now Kokayi has teamed up with Stalley to record tracks for ESPN. “He’s a dope emcee and down to earth, too,” says Kokayi of Stalley. “He reached out with the ESPN opportunity, and hearing his new mixtape along with his previous body of work has given me some insight on what he sounds best on.”
Download Kokayi’s “Nicotine” here: http://media.audibletreats.com/Kokayi-Nicotine.mp3
