WOMAD Preview: Mazbou Q, Kiwi Afro-Beat and Hip-Hop artist

One up-and-coming artist to watch from the Kiwi contingent at WOMAD 2023 is Mazbou Q. Hugh Okechukwu Ozumba, is a UK-born, Auckland-based, Nigerian New Zealand hip hop artist, producer, and social activist and educator. He began his music career with classical piano and heavy metal (as a member of Auckland band East of Eden) before switching to hip hop in 2016. He released several singles under the name Unchained XL before rebranding to Mazbou Q in 2020 with a transition to a more Afro-beat/highlife and old-school hip-hop flavoured sound.

In his previous incarnation, Ozsumba became a force to be reckoned with in the NZ hip-hop world. Bringing his solid classical and highlife background to a musical take on classic boom-bap beats (think Mac Miller), with socially conscious lyrics, and soulful hooks. His last album, "The Migrant Mind," was a powerful and deeply personal exploration of identity, belonging, and displacement drawing on his own experiences as an immigrant to New Zealand. It addresses issues such as racism, xenophobia, and the struggle to find one's place in a new country.

One standout track on the album is "But Do They Know," a soulful and uplifting anthem that celebrates the migrant story, the NZ dream, diversity and unity in the face of adversity. It features top-notch cameos from JessB & Nuel Nonso. SIXTY FO' MO' also well demonstrates Ozumba’s musicality with a beautiful keys line looped in with a live band and offers a great vehicle for his lyrical prowess with high paced, fierce and unrelenting rapping throughout the song.

The Evolution

That is a solid musical base to build from, and Ozumba’s transition to Mazbou Q's allows him to step out of the often restrictive cultural binds of the hip-hop scene and explore a wider musical territory. It is also a journey back to his roots for Ozumba, as he reconnects more strongly here with the rich history and diverse sounds of the Highlife Afro-beat sound of his ancestral homeland of Nigeria. He has acknowledged an avowed influence by legendary Nigerian Afrobeat artist and activist Fela Kuti who was somewhat of a proto-rapper himself with his strong political commentary and at times more spoken word delivery. The song Go and Be Free is a great example of the upbeat highlife style with Kuti style brass section and rhythm section with Q in full force rapping about the universal experience of pain and hope of freedom when dealing relationship break-ups.

Other acknowledged influences include Ghanaian rapper Manifest, and old-school hip hop like A Tribe Called Quest. There is a strong Afro-futurist influence here, especially in the first album, "Afroternity," released in 2020. Semi Savant demonstrates a continuity of his hip-hop journey with more of a stripped-back afro-futurist rhythmic style reminiscent Anderson Paak with live drums and band instrumentals backing tight vocal lines. 

His first major release as Mazbou Q was the self-produced debut album, "The Future Was," in 2021. Mazbou Q is building a solid name with himself for his energetic live performances and unapologetic political message of anti-racism yet keeping it upbeat and positive with a focus on black consciousness. Mazbou Q was also one of the organisers of the Black Lives Matter George Floyd protests in Auckland on 1 June and 14 June 2020 where he spoke about the fact that; "The same white supremacy which has led to disproportionate killings of Black people in the US exists here in New Zealand." He called on then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to condemn violence against Black Americans which as far as I know she didn’t ever do.

The track G.O.A.T Problems features a collab with fellow African-Kiwi and Auckland-based rapper RAIZA BIZA showing he can still foot it in the traditional rap scene as well as the WOMAD stage. It will be interesting to see what kind of live show he brings, but no doubt it will be heavy with bass and afro-beat brass lines and his charismatic high energy vibes, so is sure to have the crowd dancing.

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