What the fuck you bringing to the table? Did you pay dues? Are you grateful? What you been through? Was it painful? Did it break you?”

Brooklyn born and musically inclined Kota is a classically trained trumpeter, and self taught pianist, guitarist, rapper, cinematographer and producer. Bit of a mouthful, but hear me out.

Kota The Friend is an experience of sustaining a vision of life through ups and downs and indecisiveness about oneself. With verse on love for family, life and romance, Kota takes inspiration from his son, and “Solar Return” and “Bagels” are touching stories of finding new love amidst the ordinaries of life. As an active fighter of systematic racism, Kota has refused to work with branded labels and has independently written, created and produced his own music— stories of black youth that aren’t anything but brutal and real, paired with advice that humanity can heed to.

His 19-track album FOTO is influenced from significant Jazz, neo-Soul and R&B pieces. He combines these versatile sounds to create a concept album with mic-drop moments – all inspired by a Kota’s journey as a black man in Brooklyn. 

A man born and raised in a chaotic era, an artist molded by the desire to make it big, Kota The Friend is a treat for the melancholic, the tender and the grateful. The resonating sincerity and honesty are simply profound.

Don’t know about you, but I’m gonna take a trip into the higher self with FOTO right now.