Mr Mixondo

Description

At just 19 years old, DJ Travella, hailing from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, represents a new wave of singeli producers who are evolving the country's dance sound into new and innovative spaces. Not affiliated with well-known studios like Sisso and Pamoja, Hamadi Hassani's music highlights the fusion of taraab and techno in singeli, creating a dense, kinetic, and openly sexy style of cyber-singeli. Hassani began producing at the age of 15, and a few years later, his debut album is a jagged collection of hi-nrg dance music that draws influences from around the world, bringing together elements of dembow, rave, R&B, and trap. But nothing is straightforward: the opening track "Crazy Beat Music Umeme 2" juxtaposes a rhythmic intensity of 200 bpm with urgent plucked strings, as if Timbaland had envisioned a Thunderdome soundtrack for a Tanzanian street party. "Crazy Beat Music Umeme 4" is even more outlandish, featuring neon rave synths and hand-played percussion that evoke both 808 Mafia and DJ Diaki. But it’s when he nods to Atlanta that Travella seems most agile, and his fusion of synthesizer riffs and East African rhythms on tracks like "London Jomon Beat" leaves no doubt that the young producer can bend singeli to his will. For fans of Sounds of Sisso, Timbaland, and Bonsai Records.