Take Exit number 9 on the East Side of Cincinnati and you’ll find yourself in Madisonville, home to crafty rapper Uncle Kosa and his Purple Umbrella movement. Born and raised where talk of the Bengals and Reds is often intertwined with the latest street offense, Uncle Kosa grew up inspired by creativity and the arts as a way to keep away from the dangers and wicked lures of the streets.
Carving out a path with his song “Influence,” coupled with a youthful movement of kids that love his music, Uncle Kosa is living up to his name as a young OG, and at 22 years old, he’s probably one of the youngest uncles you’ll ever meet. But while he’s young, don’t sleep – he’s been at it for almost a decade perfecting his craft and making music to his liking.
Keeping his artistic ability a secret to his family at first, Uncle Kosa developed a passion for recording his own material early on, cutting takes of his verses as young as 12 years old. With a grandfather being a member of the chart-topping group Midnight Star, Uncle Kosa knew he had music in his blood as his family often spoke of the group’s success.
“I just started making music by myself, recording myself when I was younger and I eventually finally started dropping that shi*,” Uncle Kosa explained. “Really. I’ve been around this sh*t. It just was, it was more secretive at first. I really ain’t let people know what I was doing, which I should have. But that’s just how I was at first.”
Breaking away from any shy tendencies, Uncle Kosa is organizing his movement under his Purple Umbrella movement and has developed a collective of artistic personalities who are all inspired by each other’s successes. Selling everything from gear from his label wear to paintings, Uncle Kosa is a self-described real artist who clearly has an entrepreneurial spirit to sell his art to the masses.
“I got a clothing line, I got my label wear and sh*t. I got paintings I’m about to sell too. It’s just real ass art sh*t, I’m an artist and I’m just, really trying to get this shit all the way where I want it to be. I want to sign artists of all kinds, like whatever you do, shit, you could be a boxer, a painter, sh*t, whatever, f*cking anything – engineers, I need it all, man real sh*t. Real Purple Umbrella sh*t. It’s just the Purple Umbrella company. We do whatever we want, nobody getting wet.”
Focused on future releases that all tie in a concept with the art and visuals, Uncle Kosa has plans for his fans who ride along on this Purple Umbrella journey.
“We gonna ride this sh*t out. It’s gonna be a lot of fun though. We gonna be doing some giveaways, all types of sh*t though man. I appreciate y’all as much as y’all appreciate me. Keep on turning me up, I’m gonna keep on turning y’all up. “
