Ko-Jo Cue

Linford Kennedy Amankwaa (born 27 May 1989), better known by his stage name Ko-Jo Cue, is a Ghanaian Hip-Hop/Afro-Pop artiste from Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

He is currently signed to BBnZ Live and is affiliated to The Cue, a talent development group which he formed with producer Peewezel.

In 2005, he gained admission to the Kumasi Anglican High School which is famous for being the alma mater musicians such as Okyeame Kwame, Lord Kenya and Noble Nketiah.

It was here that he started seriously considering music as a career path.

In 2008, he met two aspiring musicians K-Wu and Kuul D (together known as Soulbrothaz) who introduced him to Macfancy, a 3rd year pharmacy student at KNUST who made beats in his spare time.

The two hooked up and started recording in a bedroom studio owned by a fellow Nigerian student called Okechukwu a.k.a. Drillmeister.

Macfancy will make the beats and mix the recordings afterwards.

The two will go on to record over 10 songs (some of which made it onto his first mixtape) and Ko-Jo operating under the name Jazzy Flo posted the songs on his Facebook and Reverbnation page, attracting the attention of Tallal Sangari, the C.E.O of Primitive Music who offered the young up-start a deal.

Under the guidance of Tallal Sangari a.k.a. Tee, Ko-Jo Cue adopted his new moniker and started a journey to discover himself as an artist beginning with the release of his first mixtape.

In January 2010, Ko-Jo Cue released the first installment in a series he called ‘Growing Pains’.

The project which was titled ‘N.A.T.H.A.N’ attracted the attention of the online community on Facebook as well as the major Ghanaian blogs and websites most notable among them being Ghana Mixtapes and BigXGh.

It was the first project of its kind by a Kumasi artiste and it gained him regional recognition.

Within the space of three months, he added two more installments ‘N.O.N.A’ and ‘Now And Forever’ with the latter earning him respect amongst the Ghanaian Hip-Hop community and the former spawning his first viral hit with a track titled ‘Head Nod’ produced by Peewee.

The song made it onto radio rotation in his hometown and even caught the attention of Bradez and Okyeame Kwame (two of the biggest acts from his hometown as at that time).

He then took 2 more months to release the last instalment in the series which he titled ‘The Wait’.

The buzz generated by ‘Head Nod’ attracted artists out of his region and soon he found himself working with acts like Kay-Ara, Klu, and Pappykojo.

He also worked on a cover of Kwaw Kesse's ‘Poppin’ with Flowking Stone (one half of the Bradez).

He kept his visual appearances minimal but managed to gather quite a cult following which expanded as he collaborated with more artistes outside his region.

In January 2011, Ko-Jo Cue released Before We Shine and solidified his status as an underground king and earned a spot as one of Kumasi's top 5 rappers.

The project earned him two viral hits with the songs ‘My Life’ (which earned rotation on DW radio) and the fan favourite ‘E No Be Say’.

He performed at the maiden edition of the Asabaako Music Festival which featured acts like Yaa Pono and Wanlov.

He was also brought on-stage by Flowking Stone at a Vodafone street carnival in Asokwa-Kumasi.

In March 2012, he released ‘Winning’ as the first single for the second instalment of Before We Shine.

The song which was produced by Klu became the leading trending topic on Ghanaian Twitter for four hours earning over 3,000 downloads in a week.

It also received rotation on YFM.

In June 2012, he released his first ever visual for the single titled ‘The Flood’.

The video was directed by Jeneral Jay and received rotation on various national television stations eventually landing on Channel O. In October 2012, he released another single titled ‘Lie Ben’ which featured Asem to commercial acclaim.

The song served as his first nationally recognized song surpassing ‘Head Nod’ and ‘Winning’ in downloads and radio rotation.

He also announced the release date for the second installment of Before We Shine.

In January 2013, almost a year after the release of its first single, Ko-Jo Cue released the sequel ‘Before We Shine 2: The Cremation of Care’ to critical praise.

The mixtape which had 16 tracks (plus 2 bonus tracks) also featured artistes like Flowking Stone (Bradez), Edi-Young, Klu, Cabum, Kay-Ara and Trix.

In 2014, he dropped his mixtape "The Shining" to incredible reviews from critics.

The mixtape went on to be downloaded more than 12000 times and trended on social media for two weeks.

His current single, Lavender has charted on more than 6 major radio stations in Ghana.

Amankwaa was born in Adum, a suburb of Kumasi but he was mainly raised by his grandmother in Bantama [another suburb of Kumasi].

Growing up in a house filled with his entire extended family and sleeping in a room with 5 cousins, an auntie and his grandmother, the values of family were instilled in him at an early age.

These values are shared in most of his songs.

At age 9, he fell in love with Ghanaian rap music when his cousin Rebel [who was an amateur dancehall artiste] introduced him to Obrafour's first album Pae Mu Ka.

He wrote the lyrics to a particular track (Aden) down and learnt to recite it over time.

After succeeding, he decided to start writing his own rhymes as a means to escape his surroundings and share his thoughts with the world.