Kota the Friend

Kota the Friend is an American rapper and songwriter born in 1992 in Brooklyn, New York. Born Avery Marcel Joshua Jones, he developed an interest in music as a child and learned to play instruments including the trumpet, keyboard, guitar and bass. He attended the Brooklyn High School of the Arts and studied trumpet at Five Towns College. During college, Jones performed as a member of the rap trio Nappy Hair and released the mixtapes “Autumn” and “Nappy Hair”. Jones has remained an independent artist, turning down offers from three major record labels to establish his own label and apparel brand, FLTBYS. His do-it-yourself mindset was influenced by his childhood as a Jehovah's Witness in Clinton Hill. His recording history included the studio album Anything. (2018) and his debut independent studio album, FOTO (2019), which featured the artists Saba and Hello O'shay. The record was ranked as the number 17 best hip-hop album of 2019 by Rolling Stone. His later recording history featured the studio albums Everything (2020), which reached number 162 on the Billboard 200, and MEMO (2022).

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