TakunJ

Jonathan Koffa

Monrovia

"This is the way we all relate to one another easily, through the Hip Co. It’s the way we talk everyday, put into song; it has great potential. I want to make sure this Hip Co thing takes the world." -Takun J Jonathan Koffa is better known to his fans as Takun J, the Hip Co King. Takun J was born on May 14 in Monrovia, Liberia, where he survived the country’s 14 year civil war with his single mother and 3 siblings. Even during those hard times, it was clear that Takun had an entertainer’s spirit. He grew up playing soccer, dancing, and entering talent shows. He performed whenever he had a chance. By the time he graduated from high school, he had fully committed himself to music. In 2005, he released his first single, “We’ll Spay You” followed the next year by “You Meaning Me”. The success of those songs was cut short as the war flared up and a resettlement program took Takun to refugee camps in Ghana, and later, Ivory Coast, where he washed clothes and cleaned houses for people in exchange for food. When the opportunity arose, he returned to Liberia to rebuild his country. He sees music, and especially Hip Co- the unique Liberian language of the streets and markets- as integral to this. In 2007, he released The Time, his first full length album. The song “Police Man”, which spoke honestly about police corruption, was an instant hit with fans but resulted in two arrests and a brutal beating by Liberian National Police. Takun refused to be silenced: the night of his release, he performed with his eye still black and his shirt still blood-stained. Since then, Takun has committed himself to writing songs that speak truth, promote unity, and resonate with people’s everyday experiences. He has worked with international organizations, including Action on Armed Violence and UNICEF and is serving as a gender based violence reduction ambassador for Media Impact. Both his work and his music have been recognized internationally, with features on BBC, Al Jazeera, OkayAfrica, AFP, and more. In December 2012, he launched his new album, My Way, and held the world's first hip co festival, opening to crowds of 17,000 people over 2 days.