Kirani Ayat is a famous Hanonian singer, songwriter and rapper who often performs in a variety of bending styles, a mix of Afro-Fusion, Hip-Hop and Alte in the Hausa native Hausa. Kirani, who has worked with Ghana’s biggest names in rap including Sarkodie on “Dodo” and Medikal on “4get Everybody”, has been busy carving out his own resort these days, from the weighty trap of his solo single “Stage” to smooth alternative cuts. Re.decay.Kirani, two based products, has also been busy building communities as a founder of Kokrobite Skate Crew. Kirani began slipping in 2017 after living and working in Santa Monica, California, helping to bring his passion back to Ghana by starting the first fully functional skatepark in the country. This collective is a shop for the youth of the Kokrobite community (a beach resort city for surfers) to direct their energy to something productive. Kirani has been busy, constantly updating and innovating his prolific music career since his inception.

In this latest video, Kirani takes us on an adventurous journey into the world of wrestling. Dambe is a brutal style of martial art popular in Hausa communities in some parts of Nigeria, Niger and Senegal. The origins of this tradition go back as far as the 10th century, and thanks to the advent of social media platforms, a large global audience is slowly gathering. “Sarki” is a story of courage, ambition and resilience. It is a journey through the life of a little boy named Hafeez, a coconut trader in a small village, and his dream is to become a dambe warrior like his idol Kirani Ayath. Against the will of his mother and the suspicion of his friends.

I’m a fan – this is different, but it works. It is refreshing to hear something more powerful than expected. It also serves as a welcome reminder of the hip hop style’s approach to music and performance, which is often not seen in modern music. It all has compelling fighting feel to it, the essence of which is very well grasped by Ti Santos.