DJ Diaki Balani Fou

2 tape/ 2 hours of music in custom screen-printed clamshell with poster insert. Mali’s DJ Diaki rains 170bpm ‘Balani Fou’ fire in two tapes of incendiary original productions and contextual mix sets for the unstoppable Nyege Nyege Tapes. A proper party starter hailing from 20km outside Bamako, Mali’s capital city, Diaki Kone is a producer/DJ and originator of the Balani Show style that favours rapid coupé decalé rhythms lit up with whistles and crashing cymbals. The style was conceived by Seydou Bagayoko in the late ‘90s as a cheaper alternative to Balafon groups used for celebrations and dances, and was progressed by his apprentices DJ Diaki and DJ Sandji in the 2000s, resulting the current style of ‘Balani Fou’ (or ‘Crazy Balani’) which favours remixes made on-the-fly with additional drum pads and sometimes synths, as heard in this exhilarating double tape which introduces the style to listeners beyond the region.