Ko-Jo Cue

Ko-Jo Cue, born Linford Kennedy Amankwaa on 27 May 1989, is a hip hop and Afro-pop artiste from Kumasi. He is known for thoughtful, family-centred lyrics and for helping to put Kumasi rap on the internet map.

Early life

He was born in Adum and raised mostly by his grandmother in Bantama, in a crowded family house where he shared a room with five cousins, an aunt and his grandmother. Those family values run through his songs. At nine his cousin played him Obrafour's Pae Mu Ka, and learning the lyrics by heart pushed him to start writing his own. At Kumasi Anglican Senior High School, the alma mater of Okyeame Kwame and Lord Kenya, he began to treat music as a career.

Early releases

In 2008 he started recording with Macfancy, a pharmacy student at KNUST who made beats, and posted the songs under the name Jazzy Flo. They caught the ear of Tallal Sangari of Primitive Music, who signed him, and he became Ko-Jo Cue. His 2010 Growing Pains mixtape series was the first project of its kind by a Kumasi artiste, and Head Nod became his first viral hit and reached Bradez and Okyeame Kwame. Before We Shine followed in January 2011.

Later work

His debut album, The Shining, includes Pretty Please with Blackway. He has worked with Kay-Ara, Klu and Pappy Kojo, and featured on DJ Vyrusky's Number with Kuami Eugene.