Lagos-based producer Azzi On The Beat released his debut album, Mara Gram, on 12 November, introducing an 18-track project built around mara and shaped by several other musical traditions, according to the label’s album page. Azzi On The Beat is the stage name of Waris Rasheed, an artist biography says.
The album’s release date and track count are also listed by independent retailer Boomkat. The record’s arrival places a new full-length work from Rasheed into a growing conversation about mara, a sound associated with Lagos nightlife and described by recent coverage as combining electronic and pop influences.
A sound rooted in mara
The label presents Mara Gram as rooted in mara, while also pointing to experiments with trance, hip-hop, ballroom and Yoruba traditions. These descriptions come from the label rather than an independent critical assessment, so they offer a guide to the project’s stated musical framework rather than a settled account of how every track sounds.
The album opens with “Police Way,” according to its track listing. A supplied description characterizes the track as using sirens, clattering drums and overlapping rhythms, but the available evidence does not independently verify those listening details.
Coverage of mara provides some context for the album’s title and musical setting, though accounts differ in emphasis. Resident Advisor described the sound as Lagos-born, combining synth-heavy house and pop with Afrobeats. A Guardian Nigeria report connected its growth to Lagos party circuits and described its movement from street parties and social-media dance culture into wider nightlife. Neither account establishes a definitive origin story or fixed boundaries for the genre.
Growing visibility
Rasheed’s music has also appeared on a prominent performance platform: Boiler Room’s verified channel published a set titled Boiler Room Lagos: Street Beat featuring Azzi On The Beat on 5 February 2026. That confirms a platform appearance earlier in the year, but does not substantiate broader claims about how widely the performance was discussed.
The album’s release follows that appearance and offers a larger body of work through which listeners can encounter the producer’s approach to mara. The available sources confirm the album’s release, track count and label-stated influences, but do not provide independent reviews or detailed track-by-track analysis.
Festival date remains unconfirmed
The supplied material says Azzi is due to play Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival, scheduled for 19 to 22 November 2026. The festival’s official lineup page confirms the event dates, but the retrieved evidence does not confirm Rasheed’s booking or a performance date. His appearance should therefore not be treated as confirmed without further verification.
Other details in the supplied headline material, including a tempo figure of 160 beats per minute and named comparisons for listeners, were not corroborated by the research dossier. They are omitted here rather than presented as verified facts.