Kota the Friend

Avery Marcel Joshua Jones (born October 16, 1992), known by his stage name Kota the Friend (stylized as KOTA The Friend), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He took his stage name from the Disney movie Brother Bear and has claimed it is a Native American word meaning friend.

Early life Avery Jones was born on October 16, 1992, in Brooklyn, New York City. Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, he developed an affinity for music. Jones at 8 years of age learned how to play the trumpet although he originally wanted to play the saxophone but there were not enough available at his school, later picking up the keyboard, guitar, and bass. He attended the Brooklyn High School of the Arts and Five Towns College for trumpet. During college, he created the rap trio Nappy Hair, releasing two mixtapes, "Autumn", and "Nappy Hair." Kota spent much of his time working weekend jobs to make enough money to build an at-home music studio. Jones in his early teen years recalls rapping into his laptop in the bathroom. This encouraged him to continue to pursue creating music as a career.

Career Kota the Friend has remained an independent act throughout his career—turning down 3 major record labels; instead, creating his own label and apparel store FLTBYS. He frequently cites a do-it-yourself mentality, such as filming his own music videos, recording within a home setup, and producing most of his discography. His mentality was fueled by a desire for freedom and to avoid the sense of musical confinement.

In his debut studio album FOTO, Kota featured appearances from artists Saba and Hello O'shay. Focusing on mellow and jazzy beats, it was praised by many for its quality and attention to detail. FOTO was ranked the 17th best hip-hop album of 2019 by Rolling Stone. He subsequently embarked on his first headlining tour, called the FOTO Tour.

His second studio album, EVERYTHING, featured appearances from notable artists such as Joey Badass, Bas, and KYLE, among others. In addition, he featured actress Lupita Nyong'o and actor Lakeith Stanfield in interludes. The album went on to peak at number 162 on the Billboard 200, which was released on September 26, 2025.

Business ventures Kota the Friend owns FLTBYS (pronounced Flight Boys), a skate, music and travel culture brand, which he started when he was a student in the 11th grade in Brooklyn, New York. Kota has been making clothes since a young age. Matt Jost also critiques Kota the Friend's "To Kill a Sunrise" album. He highlights on the fact that Kota began the album with the song "Wolves" to stray away from the repetition expressed in previous album to signify how he has grown as an artist and the lessons he has learned during his career. Jost touches on how Kota wrote the song "Go Now" to represent how he allows those around him to mistreat him. Jost also mentions Kota can improve on the songs themselves, but excels in setting the mood for the song.

Kota the Friend has one son.

Kota practices veganism periodically to cleanse himself and put himself in a better mindset.

Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions USBillboard 200 Album Sales Anything.Released: February 15, 2018 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — FOTOReleased: May 15, 2019 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — Lyrics to Go Vol.1Released: January 20, 2020 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — EVERYTHINGReleased: May 22, 2020 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming 162 31 Lyrics to Go Vol.2Released: January 18, 2021 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — To Kill a SunriseReleased: March 19, 2021 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — Lyrics to Go Vol.3Released: January 14, 2022 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — MEMO Released: July 8, 2022 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — Lyrics to Go Vol.4Released: January 18, 2023 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — To See a Sunset Released: March 24, 2023 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming — — Protea Released: June 30, 2023 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, Vinyl — — Lyrics to Go Vol.5Released: January 25, 2024 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming —— Once In A Blue Moon Released: December 13, 2024 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming —— NO RAP ON SUNDAY Released: June 27, 2025 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, Vinyl —— LOCAL ART DEALER, Vol.1 Released: June 27, 2025 Label: FLTBYS Formats: Digital download, streaming ——

Music in film Kota's song titled "Scapegoat" was used for the entire end credit in the Amazon Prime movie Emergency (2022). His song "Pomegranate" was used in the Netflix movie You People (2023), which starred Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. His song titled Volvo was featured in Netflix original, Survival of the Thickest.