Premiere: Listen to Kayo's "Winter In St. Lucia" Now

The St. Lucia-born, Canada-based artist is back with a new single reflecting on a winter spent in his home country.

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Kayo is back with a new single, and it's quite the departure from his last solo project Nowhere, which we premiered here on Complex in 2015. While that EP showcased Kayo's chops as a hard-hitting hip-hop act, his latest single, "Winter In St. Lucia" shows a more introspective, softer side to the young artist, inspired—as the title suggests—by a season back on his home island. 

"It was the first time in a long time that I was home long enough for it to start to feel like home again," Kayo says of the release. "I was going through a lot of personal stuff in the midst of working nonstop and having to be in the public a lot. It became difficult for me to process everything that was happening around me. That pressure inspired me to take it back to where it started and use the music as an outlet."

Kayo Winter In St. Lucia Album Art

Over minimal production care of fellow St. Lucians Dwight Florent and Smallz (who is also featured on the track), Kayo's vulnerable and introspective lyrics take centre stage as he mulls over his time back in his home country, and the various challenges that he faces there including family illness, creative struggles and a failing relationship: "Constant conflict with this life that I love / Left the paradise and came to the cold to keep me warm / Can't fathom a winter with you gone; you inspired this song." Kayo's frequent collaborator Yogidaproducer also lends his engineering talents to the songa and also designed the single's artwork. 

Listen to "Winter In St. Lucia" above and stay tuned for some more music from Kayo in the coming months. 

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