Koast’s Album ‘1609’ is a Study in Rebirth, Power & Emotional Duality
The eight-track record marks a new, exciting chapter for the Tunisian artist, one where she attempts to reclaim her narrative.
Following nearly a year away from the public eye, Tunisian artist Koast returns with her new EP, 1609, a deeply personal work that confronts doubt, heartbreak, and self-discovery.
Building up to her announcement of her comeback record, 1609, 'missing' posters of Koast were plastered across New York and Tunis. The artist, then, announced the record with a series of inventive campaigns, starting with a TMZ paparazzi-inspired shoot, before sharing an open letter reflecting on her hiatus and her intention to return with a deeply personal project. The rollout continued with interactive teasers, like a faux iPhone leak teasing the release of the lead single, ‘Mikasa’, a crossword game for the album’s tracklist and a playful teleshopping parody promoting the full record.
The title - her birthdate - signals both a fresh start and a desire for renewal. Created during her hiatus, spent entirely offline in reflection and quiet boredom, Koast describes the period as “an anti-vlog: no cuts, no made-up stories, no filters. Just reality taking up all the space it needs.”
1609 is an unapologetic triptych of growth and self-expression, exploring power, intimacy, and emotional duality through stories rooted in both personal experience and the streets of Tunisia. Across eight tracks, Koast moves fluidly between R&B, soul, hip-hop, house, and synth-pop. Tracks like ‘Enterlude’, ‘Sadi9’ stitch threads of R’n’B and Soul with bittersweet melodies, layered harmonies and emotive vocal performances that unfold like personal confessions of past love, friendships and inner conflicts.
Meanwhile, ‘Dhab Khaless’ and ‘Mikasa’ are more confident, self-celebratory dancefloor-fillers inspired by New York’s 90s ballroom scene, where Koast experiments with a playful register, blending hip-hop attitude and house grooves with pop sensibilities. One of the other standouts on the record is ‘10 Times’, a synth pop earworm with 80s influences, featuring vocal chops of Koast chanting ‘Queen of Everything’.
Having earned a reputation as one of the region’s most exciting hip-hop voices, Koast now embarks on a new chapter with 1609, attempting to reclaim her narrative in an era of hyper-productivity and fast-paced releases.
