Jamaican reggae artist Koffee, whose given name is Mikayla Simpson, has been included on the “21 under 21” list compiled by Billboard magazine. Koffee won a historic Grammy in 2020 when she became the first female artist to win the award for Best Reggae Album in the 35-year history of the awards program, and also as the youngest Grammy winner of all time. She won her historic awards a mere three weeks before reaching the age of 21. The singer-songwriter plans to capitalize on her successes to inspire others, or as she said, “to set an example for those who are younger than me — to inspire others to reach their full potential.” Koffee is moving ahead with new projects, including collaborations with J Hus of the United Kingdom with “Repeat” and with Buju Banton, a legendary reggae artist, with the “Pressure” remix. When asked to cite the most powerful thing that being a young artist in the music industry brings to her, Koffee told the Billboard interviewer, “This is a big opportunity for me, a big platform that I can use to set an example for those that are younger than me. To keep things positive and inspire others to reach their full potential — it’s a huge responsibility, and I want to do a lot of good with it.”

The other young artists included on Billboard’s “21 under 21” list of influential musicians include 24kGoldn, 19; beabadoobee, 20; Billie Eilish, 18; Benee, 20; Carlie Hanson, 20; Chloe x Halle, 22, 20; Gabby Barrett, 20; jxdn, 19; The Kid LAROI, 17; Lil Mosey, 18; Lil Tecca, 18; Lil Tjay, 19; Lunay, 20; Manuel Turizo, 20; Mason Ramsey, 13; Moore Kismet, 15; Natanael Cano, 19; NCT Dream, 18-20; NLE Choppa, 18; and Noah Cyrus, 20.

The list was developed by a committee of editors and reporters at Billboard who considered various factors, including the impact of the artist on consumers’ behavior measured in terms of album and track sales, streaming volume, social media impressions, and the scope of radio and television audiences they reached. Also considered their impact on the music industry in the past 12 months, which was measured in terms of record-label market share plus “track-equivalent and streaming-equivalent album consumption units.” The sources of tour grosses and sales/streaming data were Billboard Boxscore and Nielsen Music/MRC Data, respectively.

Source: Billboard