Baba Ali

Hailing from New Jersey, Baba Ali produces driving and animated tracks that fuse post-punk, blues, disco, and further styles. He first gained notice as part of the synth-funk and house project Voices of Black before issuing his initial solo EP during 2017. Teaming with British musician Nik Balchin, he delivered his debut album Memory Device in 2021, an energetic and reflective full-length effort. The pair followed with their next release, Laugh Like a Bomb, in 2023.

Born Babatunde Teemituoyo Doherty, this Nigerian-American performer absorbed New York’s hip-hop and no wave environments while growing up. He launched Voices of Black alongside Jules Born, creating raw and exploratory material marked by flowing grooves and sensuous vocals. The duo divided time between New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, completing two albums including Plastic Dolls in 2011 on Wolf + Lamb Music plus further EPs via Double Standard Records and Gold Panda’s Notown label. Baba Ali joined Gold Panda’s road shows in 2016 and put out his first EP Nomad the following year, highlighted by the bluesy and politically charged track “Cog in the Wheel,” an underground club favorite. After relocating to London he issued the single “I’ve Been Voodo’ed,” then “Nothing” in 2019.

Partnering with guitarist Nik Balchin, Ali cut the EP This House in Los Angeles alongside the Kills’ Jamie Hince; Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records brought it out in February 2020. When the initial COVID-19 wave imposed lockdowns and halted performances worldwide, Ali and Balchin assembled the mixtape Rethinking Sensual Pleasure during their extended stay in the United States. A Certain Ratio later reworked the mixtape cut “Black & Blue.” Once they could return to London the pair tracked the album Memory Device with Al Doyle of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip at an East London facility, leading to its Memphis Industries release in August 2021. They spent the next eighteen months on tour and released the single “Living It Up” in 2022. Their second album Laugh Like a Bomb, completed in three weeks and produced by the duo themselves, surfaced in 2023.