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Kofy Break Engaging Kofy Brown worked hard to win over the crowd at the Agenda By David Espinoza WITHOUT EVEN HEARING a single song from Kofy Brown's new CD, Skinny & Tight, you could get a pretty good idea of what the album's title referred to just by looking at her. Standing about 5 foot 8, the superslim Brown took the Agenda stage late Saturday night wearing a skin-hugging crop top that exposed her incredibly tone stomach. It was an interesting contrast to her all-male backup band, considering each of them was at least twice her size. But let's not forget about the music. Funk was the word of the night, as Brown and crew worked up a lather of laid-back grooves that relied heavily on bass and drums. For her part, Brown is an engaging performer, whose light rapping style and deep voice left her plenty of room to maneuver around the small stage. Yet Brown isn't so much a hip-hop artist as a classy mix of soul, jazz and funk. It is a sound not unlike Me'Shell Ndegeocello's, with a hint of '70s Shaft-era funk and a focus on getting up and dancing. For the record, Brown seemed to have a hard time winning over the San Jose Agenda audience as the chatter was just as loud as the band's music and didn't cease throughout the set. Even when Brown and crew succeeded in getting folks to come up close and dance, they quickly cleared the floor as soon as the song was finished. Tough crowd. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]