An innovator in mara, the fast, sample-heavy dance music of neighbourhood parties, the Nigerian has made a debut album that will be relentlessly energising
From Lagos, Nigeria
Recommended if you like Rema, Blnde, Zinoleesky
Up next Debut album Mara Gram, released 12 November; plays Nyege Nyege festival, Uganda, 19–22 November
Azzi on the Beat doesn’t exactly ease listeners into Mara Gram. On its opening track Police Way, sirens blare, drums clatter and another rhythm seems to barge in before the first has finished. This is mara, the fast, sample-heavy dance music that grew out of carnivals and neighbourhood parties in working-class Lagos, with tempos reaching 160 beats per minute.