Kota the Friend

Born in Brooklyn under the name Avery Marcel Joshua Jones, Kota the Friend since the mid-2010s has been developing an independent hip-hop rooted in the New York tradition, with measured writing, supple productions and an aesthetics often nourished by jazz, soul and lo-fi loops. Trained in music from childhood, after attending the Brooklyn High School of the Arts and then Five Towns College, he began in a group before launching his solo project and building his career as an independent artist under his FLTBYS label. Kota the Friend steadily made his mark with Anything. in 2018, then with FOTO in 2019, an album that refines a calm and introspective style, between melodic rap, spoken flow and daily observations. He followed with Everything in 2020, the Lyrics to Go series, then two collaborations with Statik Selektah on To Kill a Sunrise in 2021 and To See a Sunset in 2023, where his smooth phrasing meets a more classic boom bap production. MEMO released in 2022, followed by Protea in 2023. In his tracks, Kota the Friend favors hushed rhythms, round basses and direct storytelling, often centered on family, artistic independence, the city and life’s balance. On stage, Kota the Friend is part of the circuit of independent rap tours, in the United States and internationally.