Ghanaian rapper Ko-Jo Cue has released his new EP 21 Memory Lane. The collection is currently exclusive to Boomplay(link is external) and will be available on other major digital platforms from 15 October. 

The EP comprises six tracks and follows the musician’s 2019 LP For My Brothers. Dedicated to the theme of love, the project features fellow Ghanaian acts Kelvyn Boy, Reynolds The Gentleman, Efya and Kojo Eyshun, as well as South African singer Ricky Tyler.

Sonically, the EP sits mainly on highlife rhythms, honouring some of the genre’s most notable progenitors and motifs. It also includes R&B, hip hop, Afrobeats and hiplife influences.

“Always said if I made a project about love, it'll be a classic,” Ko-Jo Cue said on Instagram to announce the release. “Anyone who has followed me from the beginning knows love and relationships are one of my favourite subjects.”

Ko-Jo Cue told Music In Africa that 21 Memory Lane was inspired by the arc of romantic relationships: “From the initial euphoria to the nostalgia that forces you to play it up in your head and hype it up even more than it was. It's built on different relationships I've had but structured to feel like one relationship."

About his vision for the collection, Ko-Jo Cue said: “I'm looking at this as a perfect set-up for the next project. I’m hoping it expands my fan base, drawing in more women, the Afrobeats audience, and so on, so that when the album drops, I have even more people to preach my gospel to."

“Ko-Jo is a multifaceted artist who is able to waft through genres as demonstrated with this project,” Evans Offori, who was the creative director for 21 Memory Lane, said. “This project finds him experimenting more with Afrobeats and highlife, contrary to the hip hop sounds he might be known for.

"Regardless of what genres he melds his music through, he has always been and is always going to be a storyteller. That's the unique thing about him. Because of his experiences as a kid growing up in Bantama, he has grown into a well of stories waiting to be told; he's always going to weave a narrative."

Born Linford Kennedy Amankwaa, Ko-Jo Cue is behind 11 mixtapes and one album. Over his career, which began in 2010, he has collaborated with top acts including Sarkodie, M.anifest, Mensa and Mr Eazi.

Listen to Ko-Jo Cue’s 2019 single ‘Dzo’ below: