By Sean Lawrenson, 2024/25 Sport Co-Deputy Editor
Kofi Stone is one of the most exciting rappers in Britain. The self-proclaimed ‘Mayor of Brum’ has steadily been grafting away over the past ten years, releasing three albums in that time. His latest, All The Flowers Have Bloomed, sees Stone reflect on the journey he has been on, and how it might be time to give him his flowers.
Stone, as relaxed on a zoom call on a Monday afternoon as he appears to be in front of thousands of fans when performing, is visibly excited when I mention his upcoming tour across the UK and Europe. ‘I’m really looking forward to it’ he says repping a yet to be seen Kofi Stone jumper. ‘There’s a lot of new songs to test out live, I haven’t been on stage for a while now, definitely looking forward to it.’
My next question is markedly different, asking Stone about his relationship with faith, a theme that resonates across all of his albums, an introspective view on the personal journey he has been on.
‘[music’s] my outlet of expressing who I am and the things I experience, and basically, my thoughts and ideologies. I try to be an open book on record. It’s something that’s a big part of my life.’
He tells me about how his baptism at the age of fifteen has shaped his relationship with God and Religion. ‘I’ve always been inquisitive about how things work and the Bible. I didn’t want to shy away from that in my music.’
Stone’s progression as a musician is one built of a career of resilience and consistency. Having begun making music on Windows 98 with a telemarketing headset for a microphone, it’s fair to say he’s come a long way. I ask him what advice he would give to that version of himself back then:
‘Go for it. Don’t hold back. Work super hard, and believe in exactly what you’re doing. I think, sometimes we don’t give everything. And I think that when we do, we see results.’
It’s a testament to Stone’s work ethic that he has been able to produce three albums of remarkable quality. In All The Flowers Have Bloomed, Stone is at his most lyrically dexterous, and weaves in and out of hip-hop, jazz, soul, funk with ease.
That his music defies being labelled to one specific genre is no surprise, his sound is an amalgamation of people that defined his early life, whether it be his mum, whose listening extended from Bob Marley to Westlife, or his uncle who he would stay with listening to Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes.
‘I just had this massive palette of music that I was exposed to from the age of eight to fifteen. I was just being fed music, and the lens that I looked at it from, it wasn’t just this one thing. So I tried to fuse everything into my sound.’
The latest album really feels like the culmination of a project that began six years ago with the release of Stone’s first album, Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does. Three songs across his last three albums are inherently bound together, not least by title. ‘Busker Flow’, ‘King David Flow’ and ‘Flower Flow’ all see Stone at his most lyrically inventive. Asking about the most recent rendition, ‘Flower Flow’, Stone says that the song was a late addition. ‘They always come right at the end. Like ‘Flower Flow’, the album was sort of done and it was handed in. I just felt a bit like there was a missing piece.
Asking him about who is on his list to collaborate with next, Stone replies with Cleo Soul and Kendrick Lamar. Having already collaborated with some of the UK’s biggest artists from Loyle Carner, Tom Misch, Maverick Sabre, and of course, the late Benjamin Zephaniah. I ask him about his memories of the latter.
‘Benjamin man, incredible man. We wanted to do something with him as soon as I finished the song (‘May Sound Crazy’), which is kind of like an ode to Birmingham. We tried getting in touch with him, and he loved the song. He had one condition: that he recorded the song in person.’
Stone’s own audible ‘wow’ gives such an insight into the character of Zephaniah, but also of Stone himself. It was refreshing to see an artist pay homage with such readiness to one of the greats.
Anastasia Baker
Stone speaks about meeting him for the first time. ‘We arrived at the Hippodrome theatre and he was just standing there in the middle of a sunny day, and he just kind of looked at me, and nodded his head.’
If, by this point of the article, you haven’t listened to any of Kofi’s music, there’s no better place to start than ‘Frozen Hearts’, and that’s according to the artist himself. ‘I think that song shows the poetic nature and it also leaves a lot to the imagination, where else it can go. I think that’s also important, for it to not always be obvious for people.’
It’s always exciting to have the opportunity to interview an artist who you’ve been listening to for years, but they way in which Stone spoke about his influences and his passion for music was truly refreshing. The upcoming leg of his tour is bound to be entertaining, and heading into 2026, it will be interesting to what direction Stone takes with his music, what direction the flowers continue to grow in.
Featured image: Our House PublicityWhat is your favourite track on All The Flowers Have Bloomed?
