Prince Coffeo is a musician from Sierra Leone. “Mammy Cuss” is his 2022 single produced in London. It is a track written with the intention of reminding the community of their values and heritage and to raise awareness about the current happenings in the country.
The track starts off by setting up a trippy, robotic and almost futuristic atmosphere. The vocal performance by Prince Coffeo is rhythmic and generates a lot of energy for the single. The extended use of vocals in the background and the subtle and groovy electric guitar does its part in fuelling the ambience. The track makes liberal use of ad-libs and the guitar adds a sense of smoothness to the otherwise sharp instrumentation.
The beat on “Mammy Cuss” is catchy and stood out to be the highlight of the track for me. The production understands the pulse of building up and layering really well and plays with space.
The music video shows off club culture in Sierra Leone. Beautiful black men and women are dressed nice and filmed while playing pool and dancing. Some visuals do lend themselves to critique of objectification or sexualisation of black women through the male gaze, however, witnessing black joy and the sense of fun in a posh and comfortable club is important to the culture. The video song starts off with imagery of love and good vibes which is the underlying message of the track!
“Mammy Cuss” wants to make a listener get up dance! Make sure to check it out here: