The Balimaya Project story begins in Harlesden, north west London, when a young Yahael Camara Onono first encountered the Mandé drumming of his West African heritage. Born to a Nigerian mother and a Senegalese father, Camara Onono grew up surrounded by the rhythms of the diaspora, while also absorbing the multi-genre lingua franca of London’s hybrid music scenes.

Mentored by Djembe master Sidiki Dembéle, Camara Onono forged a percussive style grounded in Mandé traditions. He listened to Nahawa Doumbia, Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keita and Ali Farka Touré on the one hand, and Marvin Gaye, Mahalia Jackson, D’Angelo and Vybz Kartel on the other, developing what he calls a “London ear” for the way the city’s jazz, grime and funky house sounds were underpinned by African and Caribbean rhythmic influence. “I’ve always wanted to do something that is an accurate representation of how West African music is perceived in the diaspora, and how it comes into contact with other genres and something that accurately expresses my musical trajectory,” he explains.