On her new album, Stranger In Every Town, vocalist KOSI draws from her experience traveling alone across the US as a singer/songwriter. Join Kosi and Lorens as she talks about Pittsburgh, recording a songs she hates, and other connected but unrelated musical stuff (music credit: Like You, Walk, Priestess, Worship, Here. All songs by Kosi).

Follow Kosi

More Episodes of Doing Jazz

Support Doing Jazz

More about KOSI

Kosi (née Akosua Gyebi) is a New York City based singer/songwriter with nappy hair and jazz roots. Although she always brings just a little drama to her compositions and interpretations, she's more than just a drama queen. She's got piercing eyes and a voice that's larger than her body. But, small as she is, she won't fit in a box. She switches styles more quickly than you can follow, from jazz, to rock, then folk, but never more than a few steps away from the blues.

She cites Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone as her main influences, and has been compared to Tracy Chapman, India Arie, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith. However, despite her comparisons and influences, everything about Kosi, from her nappy hair to her sometimes bare feet, from her occasionally jarring lyrics to her now-she's-sweet-now-she's-screaming dramatic interpretations, radiates authenticity. "I am not creating anything," she says, "nor am I deconstructing anything. I am neither an iconoclast nor a follower. I am simply myself, and that is enough." She's more than enough. You definitely want to hear this girl sing... if you can handle it.

Kosi's fifth and latest album, Stranger in Every Town, a concept album about the joys, pains, and existential terror of touring independently, is currently available for preorder on Bandcamp and will be released on all other platforms on Nov 4, 2018. Her fourth album, I Know Who I Am, is also a concept album telling the story of guilt, absolution, love, and self-actualization through original jazz and negro spirituals. Along with her third album, Ghosts Appearing through the Sound, which is a tribute to Abbey Lincoln, and her first two albums, Pictures of Us and One More Cup of Coffee, each of which is comprised of eight of Kosi's original songs and two jazz standards, it is available for purchase or download on Amazon, CDBaby, Bandcamp, and on her website: kosi-sings.com.