Last Ramadan, I went to a small gig in Kano. The venue was full of students and traders. Two young artists were on the bill. One…
A few years back I helped a friend from Kano finish a wedding single. We recorded his voice under a ceiling fan in a small room.…
One Saturday morning in Kaduna, I walked into a small studio behind a tailoring shop in Unguwan Sarki. Power had just returned. The producer switched from…
A few years back I watched a friend, Aminu, sell out a small show in Kano after he posted a raw rehearsal video on WhatsApp. The…
Last Ramadan I sent a 30-second chorus clip to a family WhatsApp group. Within 24 hours the same clip was on three TikTok videos, one Instagram…
A small story to begin The first time I saw royalty money hit a friend’s account in Kano, it was not plenty. In fact, it was…
A short story to start First time I heard a young Kano rapper called himself “Mai Jini,” it was in a tiny studio behind Sabon Gari…
A short story from the studio Two years ago I was in a small studio in Kano with my friend Aminu. He had a raw hook,…
I remembered just first time I heard a local Hausa beat on a global platform. It was a bus ride from Kaduna to Kano. A friend…
Sannu. I remember the first time I saw my cousin, Aminu, play a brand new Hausa single for the neighbourhood on a borrowed Bluetooth speaker. People…
I do remember back in 2021 when my younger cousin insisted that if I wanted to hear new Hausa trap songs before they blow, I should…
I still remember the first time I paid to watch a local Hausa artist perform back in secondary school. The stage was small, the speakers were…
I still dey remember one small show I attended in Kano back in 2019. The crowd wasn’t too big, maybe just a few hundred young people…
When Love Songs Hit Different I still remember back in secondary school when boys used to borrow lines from old Hausa love songs just to toast…
Ado Gwanja Drops “Gangariya” – 2025 Fresh Release If you talk about Hausa music in 2025, you can’t escape Ado Gwanja’s name. The man don dey…