Award-winning poet William Du Bois Sakyi Kumi popularly known as Koo Kumi is set to release his new album ‘The Groit’ on Saturday, 28 November, 2020.
The album ‘The Groit’ comprises ten poems and skits which tackles politics, urbanization and movement, culture, age of youth, and gender-related issues. It seeks to present stories in the truest and natural forms to start conversations on the stated topics.
The album is set for a hearing on Friday, 27th November at the Nubuke.
Koo Kumi made his first poem compilation ‘Beautiful Africa’ which featured poets from Ghana and the US in 2013. It is a collection of poems and a list of some literary devices.
In 2019, Koo Kumi released his first spoken word compilation titled ‘Woke On The Mountain’ (WOTM), an Extended Play (EP) of seven tracks, six poems, and one skit. WOTM was the start of Koo Kumi’s innovative poetry which leaned towards music and alternative hip hop.
In May 2020, he released a three-piece Spoken Word EP titled “An Ode To A New” to celebrate his birthday.
All the poems were produced and engineered by various talented young people all from the Akuapem Ridge in Inner Groove Studios located at Aburi Akuapem.
ABOUT KOO KUMI
William Du Bois Yaw Sakyi Kumi also Known as Koo Kumi is a spoken word artist who identifies himself as a multi-disciplined artist with a background in visual arts and performance art. He hails from Mampong Akuapem from the Eastern Region of Ghana. He is known by many as a poet and a photographer.
He began putting his poems out on social media in 2012 after writing for a long time. He appeared on the literary scene in 2012 and was tagged as a “dynamic and innovative” artist. Koo Kumi won the first national teen slam in Ghana in 2013 at the National Theatre with his co-performer Nana Yirenkyi. His way of poetry is inspired by real-life experiences which have earned him a spot on people’s lists of expressionist artists.
In his early 20s, Koo Kumi exudes an elderly man persona in his works: delivering records akin to an Abusua Panyin. He has a unique fashion Style which blends deep-rooted Ghanaian Traditional culture with some contemporary influence.
He majored in Journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), where he won the Student Poet of the year prize at the GIJ Eminence Awards in 2017.
In 2019, he was awarded the Kofi Anyidoho Award by the Ghana Writers Association, he also received an honorary award as eminent alumni of the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He is the leader and founder of Trotro Vibes, an art movement that uses public transport as a stage to perform.
Some of his recorded poems include Tribute to Awoonor, Free Us, Slow Down, Untitled Ones, My dear future wife, and The Greatest Poem Ever.
In recent times, the spoken word genre has become quite popular in Ghana and the Accra Poetry Scene has been ranked one of the best in Africa and so it does not come as a surprise that a lot of people has ventured into that line of art.
