Name: Jennifer Yaa Akoto Kieck aka Y'akoto
Nationality: German-Ghanese
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Y'akoto's latest single “Dreambug” is out via Moon Entertainment.
Recommendations: Brave new world by Aldous Huxley; Reception by Y'akoto

If you enjoyed this Y'akoto interview and would like to keep up to date with her music, visit her on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I don’t see anything to be honest. I pay more attention to how it feels.

That’s the main thing for me. Feeling.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

There is no formula to being an artist. You just are or you’re not.

My first step was probably my mother giving birth to me. I believe my path is designed by something greater than me. Music is all I know and all I like and it’s never NOT been like that.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I was already on stage. I was 13 and performing in clubs, lying that I was 18. I looked quite mature for my age and that helped me. My band homies were all like 18.

Those were really fun times. They shaped me and the approach to my work a lot.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

All of the above counts. Most artists are deeply traumatised by something that happened to them in the past or is happening to them in the present. Something broke my spirit very early on in my childhood. It took a long time to admit that to myself.

My music is raw, unfiltered fierce and versatile. I’m happy I am a bit broken. My heart feels a lot. Not only what I’m going through myself, but others too. I know how a lot of people feel. That creates those impulses to write.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you describe the sound you're looking for?

I don’t like Paul Simon. As a white privileged man he appropriated South African music and put his name onto it. Just like Peter Fox from Germany is now putting his name next to Amapiano. It just makes me cringe.

I’m looking for honest self expression and top quality lyrics. My sound changes depending on the phase I find myself in. I don’t repeat formulas because I feel my audience wants to hear the version of me that they like. Go listen to my first album if you don’t like the new stuff I put out. Respectfully.

I can’t be a slave to success and fame.

I cannot live for others.

Are you acting out certain roles or parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? If not, what, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

No ... it truly is what it is.

You get different versions of me depending on my mood and the day you catch me on.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

I’ve never misunderstood the work of an artist. I admire artists for putting themselves out there like that.

Also a lot of music is fabricated nowadays. People are fabricated. Images are built by companies.

There are some right wing bands in Germany that have a very clear message. There is nothing to be misunderstood there.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness as things become more professionalised and how do you still draw surprises from equipment, instruments, approaches and formats you may be very familiar with?  

Life is short and then you die. That’s what helps me to maintain the fun.

If you are going to suffer while doing what you love then stop. It’s not worth it.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

The ocean is by far the best non human orchestra. Nothing can beat it.

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in numbers, from waveforms via recommendation algorithms up to deciphering the code of hit songs. What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

Viral hits are fabricated. Record companies push loads of money into making you like something. It’s a business. You must be good at business if you want to succeed in music. Or hire someone who is.

I’m happy for everyone who has a hit. It’s amazing to know millions of people sing your song. How wonderful.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Yea. I learnt everything I needed to know by listening to my favourite artists. Artists push boundaries. Well some of them do.

I really want to write a book one day. I’ve started.  Let’s see how it goes.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold from your point of view? What role do headphones play for you in this regard?

I love silence a little too much. All noise can be irritating to me at times. I hate loud parties, people talking loudly, traffic and plane noises.

I can be a grumpy little shit sometimes. But those are also the moments I come up with good ideas.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

It’s easier to make a cup of coffee than to write a song. My brain would die if I couldn’t make music. It’s my main source of oxygen.

That’s what I express.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values which don't appear to have any emotional connotation. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a seemingly counterintuitive way – and what, do you think, is happening here?

Yea I do. It’s a Mexican folk song and it’s called “La Bruja.” When Selma Hayek sings it in the FRIDA KAHLO Movie I just start crying laughing …



I love this song and the way she performs it in the movie. Mind you I don’t speak Spanish.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I quite like how it is now. Only the fittest survive.

There is so much music out there. You have to work hard to be noticed and really stand out.