DJ Travella

At just 25 years old, Dj Travella has managed to blast singeli’s frenetic, widely unknown rhythms to crowds around the globe. Born in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Travella — real name Hamadi Hassani — and singeli have grown side by side, shaking listeners’ spirits first in Tanzania, then all over the world. And for anyone who’s never heard about this fast-and-wild genre before, he puts it in simple, straight-up terms, “Singeli is all about leaving your problems at the door, vibing out, and dancing harder than you ever have before.” 

Over the past three years, this young Tanzanian has climbed to the very top of the singeli scene, blending classic genres like taraab, mchiriku, and bongo flava with fresher sounds like trap and Brazilian funk. “I don’t stick to the usual stuff. I’m always chasing new influences to build my own thing: the Travella sound.” The result? A whole universe of eccentric, high-pulse sounds blasting out of the subwoofers.

His first show outside Tanzania was at Primavera Sound in Barcelona back in 2022, and since then he’s toured cities like Berlin, Paris, Zurich, Stockholm, New York and Chicago. ‘Mr Mixondo’, his debut album, and ‘Twende’, his first EP, were real statements — the starting point of his mission to finally achieve what he’s always wanted: “For singeli to travel far and be understood outside Tanzania, where so many people already vibe with it.” His next album, planned for 2026, will feature voices like Arca, Rosa Pistola and Freebot.

Across Europe, Travella’s sound is hitting hard. As he puts it, “People welcome new things, and singeli brings something Europeans have literally never heard before.” Fresh off the wild Nyege Nyege festival in Uganda — where he played alongside legends like Sisso & Maiko, Jay Mitta, and Rehema Tajiri — Travella leaves readers with one last message, “Allow this music to blow your mind.” DIEGO MENJÍBAR REYNÉS.