Photographer: Alex Galloway
Words: Ramy Abou-Setta
When it comes to conscious rap in the UK, few artists embody the spirit of introspection and social commentary as fully as Birmingham’s Kofi Stone. From being raised on the likes of Nas, Jay-Z, while also drawing inspiration from UK pioneers such as Klashnekoff, Task Force and Sway, Stone has carved out his own distinct voice in British rap—one that reflects the socioeconomic landscape of modern Britain, his Chrisitan faith and the cultural complexities of growing up within multi-cultural melting pots across Birmingham and London.
This autumn, the Stone returns with his third studio album, All The Flowers Have Bloomed, set for release November 7 via Tru Community. The 14-track project builds on the foundations of his earlier work while marking a bold step forward. “This new project is a natural progression to my previous instalments,” he told Dance Wax. “It’s even more mature and just being more honest with myself. I’ve been honest in the past, but I feel like I’m at a point in life where I was just kind of like I would tell the story unfiltered. Just let the pen go and just say this is where we came from, this is what we’re doing. These are the things we experienced. With this record, I didn’t have as much time to think about things as much, I just felt the emotion and executed.”
Stone revealed whenever there was a period when he was at a “low point” he would hone into those feelings and use it to put pen to paper for this project. “I was a bit more clinical with finishing this time,” he said, “compared to other projects where a lot of things were happening in stages over the years.”
This instinctive approach shapes a 14-track body of work, including recent singles “Thorns” with Jacob banks and “Rainfall”. It signals a major step in Stone’s steady rise as one of UK rap’s most essential voices. While rooted firmly in hip-hop, the album draws from jazz, soul, funk and live instrumentation, creating a rich, expansive sound. Lyrically, Stone embraces reflection and vulnerability, confronting relationships, loss, and growth while celebrating life’s beauty. The record captures him at a new creative peak—raw, purposeful and fully in bloom.
But at its heart, All The Flowers Have Bloomed s a love letter to the boom-bap tradition that raised him. “With this, I was just like, you know what, let’s just make it as Boom-Bap heavy as possible,” he says. “I even think that I haven’t done it enough, I wanted this to just be raw Kofi musicality wise. Because I feel like as the years go by, we move further away from what will be deemed as classic hip-hop. We have more progressive stuff recently and trap sounding tracks and sub-genre stuff, but I just thought to myself, I like this [hip-hop], I like the sonics of this. I would listen to this. I just got to make something that I think is cool and something that resonates with me and tells my story.”
During its creation Stone immersed himself into a world of classic hip-hop—particularly, Jay Z’s 1996 Reasonable Doubt and all-time classic The Blueprint—an album which holds a reverence amongst the rap world for paving the way for bringing raw hip-hop into the mainstream. It also shaped a new sound for years to come. “The projects felt very true to them,” he explained. “So, I wanted to do that. I’m also just a man that loves hip-hop. I’m not against trap stuff or even the newer sounds, but I wanted to be a version of myself that I’d be proud of.”
In his earlier work, Stone consistently grappled with themes of faith, power, and the realities of growing up in modern Britain. His music has long served as both commentary and resistance—a way to challenge authority and act as a a platform for the unseen. On the opener to A Man After God’s Own Heart, he dedicates a verse to the youth while calling out those he believes are “poisoning” them with “propaganda”:
I wrote this verse for anybody out there poisoning the youth/That goes for corporations, governments and rappers in the booth/All that kill a man and shout about its never gonna do/But I guess that was depending on your views, so tell me what’s the move?
Stone has never shied away from making his feelings heard, and this new album is no different.“On this project, I tried to filter out the negativity and even swear words. I think I succeeded bar one song,” he says. “It’s less socially conscious than the previous one. But I’m probably letting people in a bit more into my world and the things around me and the that I’ve experienced. Like there’s a song, “Thorns”, that touches on mental health quite deeply, and specifically schizophrenia, that I experienced with a family member in looking after them.”
That openness feels like both a continuation and an evolution of his past work. “I would also say that the last record did have those moments as well”, he reflects. “But, this record feels like a combination of extending the story even more and carrying on the story. It’s almost leaving no stone unturned when it comes to giving the listener information to be able to paint a picture of who I am.”
Ultimately, the heart of the project is a commitment to empathy and encouragement. “I also want this project to be almost like a voice for the voiceless and for people that might feel invisible, almost like a pat on the back,” Stone explains. “A message of support like ‘keep going’ and you’re going to see the fruits of your labour come to fruition.”
All The Flowers Have Bloomed is arriving Friday 7th November via Tru Community, pre-save here.