Costa Rican producer Barzo collaborates with Beninese-Nigerian musician Kaleta on “Minagan”, drawn from the four-track EP GRIOT, released on 7 November through Wonderwheel Recordings. The project centres on the modern role of the griot, bringing together African vocalists within Barzo’s cross-continental electronic frame.

Built on interlocking guitar and hand percussion, “Minagan” carries vocals in Goun and Fon, languages spoken across southern Benin and western Nigeria. Kaleta repeats the phrase Minagan to Yési o, meaning let us rise in unity. The chant functions as both message and structure, using repetition to reinforce Afrobeat’s call-and-response foundation. Barzo frames the voice with short breaks, filtered percussion, and a controlled digital mix that draws on the crisp drum accents and syncopated low-end typical of Afro-Latin and Caribbean dance tracks.

Leon “Kaleta” Ligan–Majekodunmi, long active between Porto-Novo, Lagos and New York, brings decades of performance lineage from Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 and King Sunny Adé’s band to his work with Super Yamba Band. Barzo, a constant in Costa Rica’s alternative electronic scene and founder of the Lácteo Cósmico label, links that history with Wonderwheel’s Brooklyn base, connecting afrobeat’s communal message to a wider digital landscape.

Listen and stream the EP HERE