IND!E FUSE 2013: Ko-Jo Cue

Story by NANA OSEI KWADWO | Photos by MANTSE ARYEEQUAYE

It’s certified. Ko-Jo Cue is a star.

In the early days of 2013, Kojo Amankwah a.k.a Ko-Jo Cue a.k.a Punch Line King (PLK) had Ghanaians jamming to conscious hip-hop songs from his seventh mixtape, Before We Shine 2 (BWS2). Ko-Jo Cue entered the Ghanaian music scene with a mentality to convert conservative music lovers making the country skip to his lou and jump to something new. With BWS2, Ko-Jo Cue achieved just that.

They don’t call him the Kumasi King for nothing, either. Months after releasing BWS2, we still hear boomboxes and wireless radios blaring his sounds.

His fellow rappers – after listening to his mixtapes – christened Ko-Jo Cue the “Punch Line King” (PLK).

This music dopeness has earned the MC a spot on the Ind!e Fuse 2013 stage. After his energetic performance at this year’s Chale Wote Street Art Festival in James Town, alternative music lovers keep asking for more of the Kumasi hitman.

KO-JO CUE: The Kumasi Banger

by Nana Osei Kwadwo

Motivated by an ambition to tell his own story – a Kumasi story to the world – KO-JO CUE is one of the few Ghanaian rappers who treats lyricism like a fine art. Three months after the release of his seventh mixtape – Before We Shine II [The Cremation of Care] – and we still have the MC on weekly replay. Kumasi isn’t known for being a rap haven but despite this Ko-jo Cue’s been able to win over both obsessive and occasional hip hop lovers. He just spits those fresh rhymes you can’t get enough of.