When Khalab and Baba Sissoko first recorded together in 2015, they produced something definitive: a record where electronics and griot tradition achieved genuine synthesis rather than polite cohabitation. Not layered genres maintaining separate identities, but two forms evolving into something singular. “Tata” took Track of the Year at the 2016 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards, found champions in Laurent Garnier, Ben UFO, Matthew Dear, Bonobo, and many others — but more significantly, it established a working method built to last.
Eleven years on, they return with Foli Bah on Hyperjazz Records.
Theirs is a relationship built on trust. Khalab constructs structures that don’t develop linearly but spiral inward — loops that reveal something new with each rotation, tightening until the listener stops resisting and surrenders. Sonic architectures that don’t expand outward but deepen over time, layering toward saturation. Baba Sissoko inhabits these structures with instruments from Malian tradition, not as ornamentation but as load-bearing elements: the tradition becomes structure, not decoration. Electronics and griot practice begin speaking the same language.
Foli Bah carries weight beyond sound. The five tracks bear Bambara titles invoking universal themes: power as self-determination, destiny that overturns judgment, coexistence as political and cultural choice, possibility that remains open as long as there is life, and trust as the foundation of relationships. These aren’t narrative songs but states of being enacted through tension between Khalab’s obsessive repetition and Baba’s improvisational presence. The trust between the two musicians mirrors that between communities who choose to remain united; the hypnotic repetition of the loops is the same persistence that keeps the possibility of change open.
FILANIDONKONO
Coexistence as choice. The Peul and Dogon peoples have shared Malian territory for centuries — nomads and settlers refusing outside forces that seek division, protecting what ancestors built through brotherhood.
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Au mamalu sikira gnua fe
Au fakelu sikira gnua fe
Au ye dje duma ke gnua fe
Au ye kanu duma ke gnua fe
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Kami la wale la filani donkono
Kami la wale la filani donkono
Olu ye siki gnoko ma ye
Olu ye furu gnoko ma ye
Olu ye kanu gnoko ma ye
Olu ye bara gnoko ma ye
Filalu filalu filalu filalu
Donkono lu yo ayau miri
Au kanato dambeu ka tchigne au bolo Mali
Au mamalu sikira gnua fe
Au fakelu sikira gnua fe
Au ye furuke gnua gne gnua fe
Au ye kanu ke gnua gne gnua fe
Au kana so u kau fara fara fara fara
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Donkono be fila ka fo
Fila be donkono ka fo
Donkono be fila ka fo
Fila be donkono ka fo
Aungha sighi sighi sighi
Sighi sighi gno ko gna duma
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
Filani donkono au ka kele bila
HAME
Trust as a foundation. A name meaning “man to be trusted” — the one who holds the family together, helps others, shares with those who have less.
Kone be Hame wele bi tchiena de Hame wele bi
Kone be Hame wele bi Fatouma de Hame wele bi
Kone be Hame wele bi Mama balimake wele bi
Kadjatou balima wele bi
Aisha balima wele bi
Papa balima wele bi
Ko Mene balima wele
Ko Buya balima wele
Ko Dina balima wele bi
Kadiri balima wele
Anu be Hame wele bi Fanta denu djki wele bi
Dese Batolu djki wele bi ya ti me denu djki wele bi
Djali denu djki wele bi
Numu denu djki wele bi
Garanghe denu djki wele bi
Fu ne denu djki wele
Kone be masani dali Hame ye
Akasi dja tchiama di Hame ma
Kone be masani dali Hame ye
Aka daoula tchiama di Hame ma
Kone be masani dali Hame ye
Ale ka kenaya tchiama di Hame ma
Ale ka sidja tchama di Hame ma
Labanko nyuma tchiama di Hame ma
Hame uo Hame uo Hame uo
Hame uo Hame uo Hame uo
Hame uo Hame uo Hame uo
Tchiena denghe Hame yo
Fatouma ba bi denghe yo Hame yo
Djali Baba filani teri yo Hame yo
Hame uo Hame uo Hame uo
Ede inena balimauo la Hame
Hame uo Hame uo Hame uo
Ede inena singiu la Hame
Ede ye tchiena nye dj tche Hame
Ede ye Fatouma babi nye dj the
Ede ye Mama nye dj tche
Ede ye Kadjatou nye dj tche
Ede ye Aisha nye dj tche
Ede ye Papa nye dj tche
Ede ye Mene nye dj tche
Ede ye Buya nye dj tche
Ede ye Dina nye dj tche
Ede ye Kadiri lakare nue dj tche
Kone be douau ke Hame ye
Allah ka si dja tchiama di Hame ma
Kone be douau ke Hame ye
Allah ka daoula tchiama di Hame ma
Kone be douau ke Hame ye
Allah ka labanko niuma di Hame ma
Ye au nye dj tche Hame djeli deuh nye dj tche Hame numu deuh nye dj tche Hame garanghe deuh nye dj tche Hame
DENIFURULA
Destiny overturns judgment. The story of a girl dismissed by her village as unmarriageable — until she marries the most beloved man around. A reminder that fate follows its own logic, not gossip’s.n. A name meaning “man to be trusted” — the one who holds the family together, helps others, shares with those who have less.
A furula denifurula denifurula denifurula
A furula denifurula denifurula denifurula
A furula denifurula denifurula denifurula
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu soniuma te deni na
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu ko djoko niuma te deni na
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu teri niuma te deni na
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu tche niuma te deni fe
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu tche niuma te deni ye
Ou ya fa ko deni te furu djuko niuma te deni na
A furula denifurula denifurula denifurula
Djo beni dado ka
Djo beni dado ka
Djo beni dado ka
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu so niuma te deni na
Ou ya fo ko deni te furu tche niuma te deni ye
NIMAMASA
Possibility held open. As long as there is life, everything can change. Reality remains fluid until the end.
Koni mamasa nteri ni mamasa Kobe djuru bila
Koni mamasa nteri ni mamasa Kobe djuru bila
Koni mamasa koni mamasa Kobe djuru bila
Dolu ya fone ye bi tche ninte fonema
Dolu ya fone ye bi tche ninte ke ne la
Dolu ya fone ye bi tche ne te so nima sera sila nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Kobe djuru bila
Kobe djuru bila
Kobe djuru bila
Tcheni me na sila ibe tchama ye
Tcheni me na sila tchama be ki la
Tcheni me na sila ibe tchama fo
Tcheni me na sila i ka barkada masa ye masa ye kele ye Allah
Mamasa mamasa mamasa ntery mamasa Kobe djuru bila nimamasa e nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Dj nye ye sokoma tchama nye dolu ko
Kebe wa so
Dj nye ye tuma tchama nye dolu ko ḳobe wa so
Dunia ye wati tchama nye dolu ko Kobe wa so ni mena sila nterike ah ah tchama bi fo ni mena sila nteri muso ina tchama nye nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Koni mamasa kobe djuru bila
nimamasa nimamasa nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa tche nimamasa tche i be e tchama me
Nimamasa tche i be tchama fo
Nimamasa tche i be tchama ye Kobe djuru bila nimamasa e nimamasa kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
Nimamasa Kobe djuru bila
SEBAYA
Power as agency. The power to develop your ideas, choose your path, and fight for what you want to achieve. open. As long as there is life, everything can change. Reality remains fluid until the end.
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Sey sey sebaya sey sey sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Sey sey sebaya sey sey sebaya
Sebe bolo a be Allah bolo
Ni se ti bolo a be Allah bolo
Ni se ti bolo a be Allah bolo
Ni se ti bolo a be Allah bolo
Se se sebaya
Allah ye dolu da ku ke Fanta nye djnyero u ma fenghe masa la
Allah ye dolu da ku ke banabato ye djnyero u ma fenghe masa la
Allah ye dolu da ku ke senghe be to ye djnyero u ma fenghe masa la
Ni se bi bolo i ka hine Fanta lu la
Ni se bi bolo i ka hine yatime lu la
Ni se bi bolo i ka hine Fanta nu la
Allah ye dolu da famaya ro
Allah ye dolu da deseba to ya ro
Allah ye dolu da senghe ba to ya ro
Allah ye dolu da setiki ya ro
U ma fenghe Allah la
U ma fendi Allah ma
Allah ye dolu da famaya ro
Allah ye dolu da setiya ro
Allah ye dolu da masaya ro
Allah ye dolu da famaya ro
Se se se se
Se se se se
Se se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Se se sebaya
Khalab — founder of Hyperjazz Records — brings compositional maturity refined through years of exploration: from the Afrofuturism of Black Noise 2084 to recordings in the Sahara desert with Tuareg musicians for M’berra, to collaborations with leading figures in contemporary jazz, including Shabaka Hutchings and Moses Boyd.
Baba Sissoko, master of the tamani and pivotal figure in Malian musical culture, has worked with major figures including the seminal Art Ensemble of Chicago, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Rokia Traoré, and he’s part of Damon Albarn’s Africa Express — he continues to cross geographies and genres without losing the centre of his artistic identity. Hyperjazz Records exists to pursue this exact convergence — building a catalogue that connects distant scenes without flattening difference.
Foli Bah is perhaps its most direct expression. Eleven years later, the dialogue continues from where it never stopped.
Catalogue number: HJ016LP
Released May 29, 2026
All tracks written and arranged by Khalab & Baba Sissoko
Produced by Khalab
Lyrics by Baba Sissoko
Khalab – electronics
Baba Sissoko – voice, ngoni, tama, doun doun, djembe, kalimba, karagnan
Mixed and mastered by Giuseppe Tillieci at Enisslab, Rome (2026)
Graphic design by Viola Masella