kaffo, the sensei lets it flow
"I knew that I wanted this to be the first song of an album. I just didn't know what the album was yet." That's Kaffo, the Sensei talking about making "Congruency," the first song on his debut album Just Trust Me, which came out in January of this year. Over swirling strings, Kaffo lays out his mindset with a steady confidence; once surrounded by doubters and distractions, he's now ready to "let these waters flow and plant a seed." In the last ten seconds of the track, the strings go wonky, a miniature breakdown in the prescribed flow. But it's a temporary hiccup—a little wink from the artist, letting you know he's at the control panel, steering the ship.
There's something both meticulous and intuitive about recording a song knowing it should open an album, even before the scope of the album is clear. And meticulous intuition turns out to be a Kaffo, the Sensei signature. I interviewed the Macon, GA-raised, St. Louis-based rapper / producer / songwriter (real name Keithan Williams), over Zoom, and all throughout our conversation are examples of this targeted instinct. Calling the album Just Trust Me makes all the sense in the world—the right beat, the right word, the right partnerships and even the right timing are all within Kaffo's sights...you just have to trust him.
Kaffo, the Sensei
Patience is key to Kaffo's process. Some of the tracks on the album have been in the works for years. "This is maybe the fifth iteration of this album as it is right now. Just a lot of waiting for the right moment for a lot of the songs, a lot of reworking, a lot of undoing stuff," he says. Parts of the nimble slow jam "DONTBLOWMYHIGH," for example, have been simmering since 2022. "I don't want to say that it was tedious, but I'm glad that I waited to put a lot of these songs out in the format that they're out in right now."
Other than "Portions," which was produced by the late Atlanta producer Fendi Pendergrass, every beat on the album was crafted with care by Kaffo himself. "I like making music that I like to listen to," he says. "A lot of it is becoming a fan of yourself, in order to know what you expect out of yourself." The resulting project is a collection of diverse vibes and collaborations, linked by a unified devotion to ease and flow. The finely diced falsetto vocals of "This Machine" offset a locked-in contribution from the Macon, GA rapper jak the act; "The Usual Luv" features smooth singing from RJ Sneak and a mellow haze of guitar played by Kaffo (a multi-instrumentalist who also plays bass, drums and keys). Every song has small details to admire, but nothing feels fussy. Soul sounds psychedelic, trip-hop sounds cinematic. It all goes down easy, while being far from boring.
It makes sense that so many different elements ended up working so harmoniously. Kaffo has been producing music for other artists for years: "A lot of what I do is just making beats and sending them to people. It's just, are you vibing with this, are you not? If not, it's whatever. But if you are, we can do something with it. I prefer to just let whatever flows, flow." This fluid approach still leaves room for some top-down strategy; when it comes to working with other vocalists, "I'm able to base a lot of what I'm going to do off of what I think they're going to do. And nine out of ten I'm pretty much correct!"
At the end of Just Trust Me, on the closing song "Necessary Evils (Escape Route)," there's an interlude where Kaffo pauses his more poetic sensibilities in order to address the listener directly. An excerpt: "This is my first album, and I'm incredibly proud of what I was able to accomplish on this...how people ingest music in general right now, it's all very discouraging. I could have quit a long time ago, but I didn't, and I'm so so proud of myself for not quitting."
I found this closing speech to be incredibly moving, and I asked him what inspired him to include it on the album. "I just wanted it to be very clear how much this album meant to me," he said. "Because I am a rap music listener. If I'm going to contribute to this genre that I love, I want everything that I do to be in respect of that." He mentioned how social media has been driving down listener attention spans and causing hip hop artists to chase trends and burn out, and how that's something he wants to avoid. "I'm going to make what I think is good music, and the right people will find that. I've been adamant about sticking true to myself. And that has made this whole thing way easier."
It's never been easier to spend the majority of your free time consuming low quality content, and it's never been harder to break through the noise and get eyes and ears on your creative work. Kaffo's solution to this issue is as intuitive as his music: don't waste your time on what doesn't make you happy. "If I'm going to devote all this time and energy to something that is going to take a lot of time and energy, at least I'll enjoy it." Just Trust Me took some time to come together, but it definitely won't be his last album. "I'm excited to keep going," he says. "I don't want to say it's just the beginning...but it is kind of just the beginning."
Listen to Just Trust Me here.
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