It’s been five years since Kofi Stone released his debut album Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does, a fifteen-track record featuring the likes of Loyle Carner, Maverick Sabre, and Ady Suleiman which cemented him as a key voice in this new age of narrative-driven, introspective hip-hop. Following a stint supporting Carner on his sell-out tour before taking a hiatus from solo material in 2021, Stone has since dropped a series of singles before now releasing his hotly anticipated sophomore record, A Man After God’s Own Heart.

Self-admittedly his most vulnerable body of work to date, this record sees the Birmingham-raised rapper deliver an ode to family, faith, race and love. The storytelling nature of his lyrics remains, fine-tuned and more self-explorative than ever, hoping to paint a portrait of the man he has become over the past five years. Inviting listeners to look inward, Stone’s sincerity is met in equal measure by soothing melodies and soulful beats across tracks such as Black Joy and You’ll Be Okay. Perhaps the most poignant track of all on Stone’s record is May Sound Crazy, a tribute to his hometown of Birmingham featuring the late Benjamin Zephaniah – the message at the heart of the album immortalised in Zephaniah’s closing lyric; “We come to raise your consciousness so people gather round.”

In the conversation below, we sat down with Stone prior to the album’s release to discuss the UK’s evolving hip-hop scene, the music which shaped him and the art of collaboration.

Ella Joyce: You’ve lived in Birmingham for the majority of your life, what was it like growing up there? Do you feel it shaped you creatively?
Kofi Stone: Growing up in Birmingham was really interesting. Where I grew up there was a lot going on in the area, it’s quite culturally rich and I do believe it shaped me. It definitely had a part to play in my approach to music because in Birmingham, I think we’re limited in resources and infrastructure within the music industry, entertainment and art. It gives you this underdog fighting spirit that I adopted growing up there which put me in good stead in the rap game.

EJ: People often have that mindset of, “If you want to make it, you need to be in London”, but some of the most interesting stuff isn’t always happening there.
KS: You’re right, sometimes it’s true. There are a lot of things happening in different parts of the UK, and there’s been quite a few exciting acts coming out of other cities, because it’s a whole different experience and art is a reflection of life. 

EJ: What sort of music did you grow up listening to? Does it still influence you today?
KS: Growing up was interesting because my parents split up, but my mum played a lot of pop stuff. I remember hearing so many different pop and r’n’b records growing up, Gabrielle, Mary J Blige, and even going way into the pop world, Westlife.

EJ: A woman of taste! [both laugh]
KS: I grew up with my mum, so I heard that a lot. When I was with my dad, I remember quite vividly we used to go to London on car journeys and I think the first time I consciously took in hip hop was when he played Nas albums, Illmatic and N.Y. State of Mind. That had a huge effect on me when I was around seven or eight. He used to play a lot of hip hop, and a lot of old soul, going back to Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and the jazz greats. So it balanced out the pop stuff, two different worlds but it’s balanced me out.

“I think it’s good to reflect exactly who you are as an artist and what you’re going through because that’s where the authenticity is.”

EJ: You mentioned earlier how the hip-hop scene really varies across the country but how would you describe that scene at the minute, and how have you seen it evolve over the years?
KS: It’s interesting. In the UK rap and hip-hop scene, you’ve got many different subgenres within the genre. You’ve got so many people doing their version of hip-hop, so many different acts creating their own lane. You’ve got some of the harder stuff, softer stuff, then those in the middle. In the kind of sound that I’m making, there’s not a load of people because hip-hop is quite a wide spectrum. You’ve got some of the more trap stuff, you’ve got the classics stuff, you’ve got the real boom bap stuff, and you’ve got drill stuff. It’s such a huge spectrum.

EJ: Your sound always feels narrative-driven and your lyrics have a real storytelling quality to them. Is that something that’s always come naturally to you?
KS: Yeah, growing up the artists I listened to were great storytellers. So I embodied that and it had had effect on me, I wanted to emulate that, so I think that was why I went down that route.

EJ: Touching on that, I can’t not ask you about working with one of the greatest storytellers of our generation, Benjamin Zephaniah. You worked with him on May Sound Crazy, what was that like? The track is amazing.
KS: Thank you very much. That was a surreal experience. My manager and I were speaking about who we could get on the song because it’s sort of an ode to Birmingham. We threw a few names out there, Benjamin’s name came up and we thought that would be amazing, it would make so much sense. It was just an idea at that time and then I started putting things into action. I remember I met an old friend in Birmingham and I asked him if he had Benjamin’s number, because I didn’t know him personally, and he had it. I went back to the studio, texted him, and then didn’t get a reply for a while. And I thought, “Maybe he’s not interested.” And so I thought, “You know what? Before I make any rash judgments, I’ll give him a call.” I called him, and it said, “You’ve reached Benjamin Zephaniah’s voicemail. I’m not using this phone at the moment. If you know me, then you will have my other number.” So then I asked my agent to reach out to his agent, and then through that, he got in touch. His agent said that Benjamin handles music stuff on his own, so he got in touch with us, I sent him the song and he loved it – he really wanted to be a part of it.

In the email, he said, “The one condition is that I can be in the studio with you when you do it.” And I was like, “Yes please, that’s even better.” I think coming from that old-school world, they used to do things differently to now. A lot of the time people send their track over, and they might not be in the studio, but he wanted to be there and he wanted to be present, which was amazing. We organised a day, and it worked out that the day we were able to meet up was the same day he asked me to be his plus one for the Peaky Blinders ballet he was narrating, then in the evening we went to the studio, he did his piece and that was that. He was in the video and the day before he didn’t feel well but he was adamant about coming and sadly, about a month later, he passed. It’s a testament to who he was, to give me a chance and to go above and beyond to be involved.

“I think I have become more open in what I speak about and a bit more vulnerable.”

EJ: Collaboration feels important to your music, you’ve worked with some great people like Loyle Carner and Maverick Sabre. Is there a throughline or something you look for in a collaborator?
KS: I want to bring in other ideas and sometimes you can’t say everything you want to, I think some songs need another perspective. Sonically as well, what works? What does this piece of music need? That’s something I look at when collaborating with people. More recently, it’s been fun to have different people in the room to bounce off. With collaboration, I listen to the song, make a judgment on whether it needs someone, and then think about who it needs and what it needs. Then an artist pops into my mind. I’ll reach out and then sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.

EJ: I really love the new album, when did it begin to take shape?
KS: It took shape quite a while ago. I started right after my first project was released – so that’s going back four years ago. Just as Covid happened, I was given a few beats and through lockdown, I was able to just write. So over that period, it took shape but I think most of the record came into its own in the last year.

EJ: Your first album, Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does came out in 2019, how does it feel when you listen to that now? In your opinion, how has your sound evolved?
KS: I think I’ve become more open in what I speak about and a bit more vulnerable. Sonically, it’s evolved, hopefully, it’s more refined. It’s a bigger sound I’d say, more so than my last project, which was a bit more lo-fi and relaxed. I think there are elements of that in this new project, but it’s a bit more upbeat overall.

EJ: Where did the title A Man After God’s Own Heart come from?
KS: I wanted to bring my faith into the music and I wanted it to be positive for people. Your heart is the most important thing, it’s how you go into situations and how you do things. I wanted to have God as the standard, so if you’re striving towards that, then your heart can be the best it can be for humanity, which ultimately makes the world a better place. That was the message I wanted to bring.

EJ: There are so many great tracks, but I want to talk to you about a couple of specific ones. Black Joy feels like an ode to your family and your heritage, can you tell us a little bit about that song?
KS: I wanted to put a positive spin on things because for myself and a lot of others growing up, there’s a lot of negativity surrounding being Black. You can see a lot of negative things and subconsciously it doesn’t have the best effect on you. Obviously the media is powerful, so if there are forms of media that are positive then that helps shape things for people, watching and listening positively. I wanted to have my contribution and for people of all different cultures to see it and to join in to feel equal and empowered. With this, I wanted to look at the positive, happy aspects of my culture. Growing up, there was so much time spent going to my grandma’s, going to family parties, the people, the food, I wanted to capture that.

EJ: With the release of an album, comes a tour. Are you looking forward to getting back on stage?
KS: I am looking forward to playing live. I’ll be honest, I’m in that stage where I haven’t had the time to learn the words, essentially. It takes a bit of time for me to separate the creation from the learning. I’m looking forward to performing it, but I’m just hoping I’ll be good. I’m nervous because it’s been a while but I think I’ve worn my heart on my sleeve and I’ve given the people me. I think it’s good to reflect exactly who you are as an artist and what you’re going through because that’s where the authenticity is. It’s kind of freeing for me but at the same time, I’m nervous. [laughs]

A Man After God’s Own Heart is out now, check out Kofi on Instagram here.