The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Kofi AK Wins Bid to Open for NLE Choppa at NV

Envisioning yourself in front of a crowd of cheering fans or possibly performing alongside a famous musician is something many of us have done at one point. The unfortunate reality is that these dreams do not come to fruition for most people. However, there is one talented local musician whose dream is coming true. Quayson Williams, who now performs as Kofi AK, has achieved the opportunity of a lifetime as he has been chosen to open for rapper NLE Choppa on September 9 at NV Music Hall.

“I have always wanted to play instruments for as long as I can remember, and I got guitar lessons for my birthday when I was about eight years old,” Williams says. “I pretty much continued from there and started getting into [Jimi] Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, so I’ve always liked blues and jazz.” Eventually, Williams became the lead singer/ songwriter for the local youth blues band known as The Shortstops. They performed together at several local venues until the group disbanded in 2020. After that, Williams began to expand his musical talents into a new genre: rap.

“To be honest, I was never a fan of rap music; it just wasn’t my taste,” he says. “That was until I found soulful rap. It ties in a lot of soul and jazz influence, so it kind of blew up from there.” Recently, Williams won a local competition and earned the grand prize of opening the NLE Choppa concert. “It’s funny because I didn’t actually know I was entered into the competition because my buddy, another local rapper called JEB, texted me one day and said he had a show for me, gave me the date, and said I had to come out for it,” Williams says. “It wasn’t until at least a week later that he told me that it was a competition that he had entered me into, and I was pretty ecstatic when I heard what the prize was.” Williams worked to put together a list of five original songs to perform in his 15-minute set and took home first place.

“It was pretty insane and surreal—I couldn’t believe I had actually won it. This is an amazing opportunity, and it is one of those huge things to happen for my rap career,” he says. “I am hoping I can use this experience to gain more knowledge or build connections with NLE Choppa himself or the people on his team.” If you are unable to attend the concert live, you can show your support for this blossoming local musician by finding Kofi AK’s music on Spotify, iTunes, or YouTube.

“It was pretty insane and surreal—I couldn’t believe I had actually won it.”