Koffee Brown – Interview

A chat with Vee and Fonz

How’s life these days?

Vee: Busy.

But it’s a good busy, right?

Vee: Yep, a good busy.

How did you two come together?

Fonz: It started with Kay Gee. Vee came to a showcase [Kay Gee] set up with another guy and I came with another artist, and we all performed and they felt like the other guy wasn’t ready yet so they put me and Vee together as Koffee Brown. That is the scoop on how it started. Vee, do you want to tell him how it all started with you?

Vee: The same basically. I was with another guy and we recorded some songs together and went into Arista for the showcase.

Kay Gee is the man. He knows talent.

Vee: He knows how to put talent together. He put Next together, Jaheim, and more.

Had you been in the studio in the past?

Vee: I worked on some demo. I had did some background work for Next and Jaheim and other rappers.

How was the time in the studio with Kay Gee putting Koffee Brown together?

Vee: It was an experience.

Fonz: It was a great experience.

Vee: He was an artist (the man behind the beats of Naughty By Nature) and he taught us how to make a song where people can feel what we are saying. You can’t just have a song. People have to really see where we are coming from. Some people just go in and sing, but you can’t feel it.

Fonz: You have to feel our music because of what our material is talking about. Our music is about the female/male drama and you have to get the listener to feel it. We had to make it sound real when we were arguing. Koffee Brown is something Kay Gee has been thinking about for a long time.

How about the chemistry?

Vee: It was great, and it came from working together and really getting to know each other.

Were the songs done already?

Vee: Some were written already and we also helped to write some.

Was writing something you wanted to get more involved in?

Vee: Of course.

Fonz: We wanted to make this a career thing. We don’t just want to be artists. We want bigger things and bigger money.

Vee begins to laugh

The female/male thing has endless possibilities.

Vee: It is.

Some of the biggest songs have been duos with a woman and man.

Both: Yep.

Have you been doing radio shows?

Vee: We’ve been doing radio shows, we just did a show at Madison Square Garden. We just came from Chicago and it was the best. They showed us a lot of love.

What was your background and how did you get started?

Vee: I was raised in the church and my mom was a singer so she’d have me sing solos all the time around the city in different churches. I would do leads in the choir. Then I was growing up seeing Whitney on tv, I wanted to do what she was doing.

Fonz: Like Vee I grew up in the church and I was in the pew with a shiny forehead and a little tight suit on. I really started as a singer in church. I tried to for groups all through high school, but nothing ever really worked out.

What surprised you about the business side of music?

Vee: Definitely how much you have to work. It’s a job. You have to get up early. Yesterday I got up at five-thirty in the morning to do a morning show. We have to be up early and do lots of interviews and it is work.

Fonz: It is really hard work.

Vee: You don’t have time to do what you usually do. I haven’t been to the movies in months. I used to be a fiend for the movies. I’d go and see everything that came out. You really don’t have a life.

Fonz: By the time you hit the city, you are working radio stations all morning.

Vee: We have to beg to get an hour at the hotel to relax.

For those who aspire to do what you are doing, what advice would you offer them?

Vee: Stay focused, believe in God, pray a lot, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t live your dream. People have a tendency to see only that the money isn’t coming fast enough and they tell you that you are wasting your time so they think you should get a job. They don’t see what you see.

Fonz: I think that is the natural reaction of human beings. They tend not to look ahead at the big picture. They want things today and don’t look for tomorrow. They don’t see that if they plant the seed today that in three, five, or maybe more years it will grow.

Vee: Never let anyone tell you that you can’t live out your dreams. Believe in yourself.

Fonz: You’ve got to believe in yourself.

Have you visualized the future of Koffee Brown that far in the future, say three or five years?

Vee: For sure. We want to put out the best quality of music out as far as Koffee Brown is concerned. We want to become a household name. We always want to be around. I also want to be an actress and a songwriter.

Have you visualized the future of Koffee Brown that far in the future, say three or five years?

Vee: For sure. We want to put out the best quality of music out as far as Koffee Brown is concerned. We want to become a household name. We always want to be around. I also want to be an actress and a songwriter.

Has anyone offered you funny marketing schemes because of the name Koffee Brown, like a donut company or Starbucks?

Fonz: Actually someone at Arista did mention something like that.

Vee: I think it was Starbucks. (laughs)

I bet everyone asks you if you even drink coffee.

Fonz: I drink coffee like a dog. I survive off of coffee.

You’ll get that question for the rest of your careers I bet.

Fonz: I know. And at night when we were working late doing production, I would be drinking coffee and dragging at like seven in the morning and drink more after a long night. I like coffee. Coffee is great, especially when it’s brown. (everyone laughs)

+ charlie craine