BABA NYZA partners with Spotify Bangladesh to release new track O Sonia

Spotify’s Bangla Pop playlist has a new entrant, BABA NYZA, a young independent artist who combines Bangla and English lyrics to make fusion songs reflective of genres trending globally. Spotify has always been on a mission to champion independent acts all over the world. With their entry into Bangladesh in early March, the music streaming giant has already introduced curated editorial playlists for Bangladeshi artists and their music with the hopes of attracting fans who have a wide variety of musical tastes. Playlists like Adhunik Bangla, Bangla Rock, and Bangla Hip Hop Central reflect the wide-ranging tastes of current Bangla music lovers. However, Spotify Bangladesh’s biggest editorial playlist, Bangla Pop, features classic Bangla hit songs from generations prior. With O Sonia picking up steam with over 50,000 streams in 4 days, BABA NYZA’s popularity is growing. He also graces the cover of Spotify’s Editorial Bangla Pop playlist.

BABA NYZA’s latest song, O Sonia, features deep vocals, afrobeats, and a raw attitude. The machismo can be felt immediately as BABA NYZA sets up the audience for a sonic swagger immediately by grunting. This form of chilled out confidence that can be heard so cleanly in the song and the delivery has not been seen in a Bangladeshi artist before. The beat is an offshoot of afrobeat and dancehall, but BABA NYZA’s version of sing song rap is very similar to that of Latin trap artists currently trending like Bad Bunny and J Balvin. 

Also read: Four awesome Bangladeshi musicians you probably don’t know about

The current pop music marketing in Bangladesh is saturated with love song ballads (think Jhoom by Minar) and “dhoom dharaka” types of Bollywood style item songs (think Local Bus). In Bangla rap, although it has not become mainstream yet, we typically hear lyrics that aim to be poetic with very big words and complex structures (think of all the tracks by Black Zang or Skib Khan). O Sonia excels both as a pop song and a rap song because BABA NYZA does not try too hard. His lyrics are not complicated, and his vocals do not reflect anything like the vocals of a trained singer. Rather, the simplicity of the lyrics, and the repetitive nature of the melody makes for an easy and catchy listening experience. What is even more intriguing is how easily and swiftly BABA NYZA transitions from Bangla to English without sounding forced or accented, making for a song that has the markings of an artist with a global footprint. 

BABA NYZA is not new. His last song, Miss Maverick, sung entirely in English spawned over 1.7 million views on Tiktok and sparked a global trending challenge that had over 95 videos. Miss Maverick currently sits on 850,000 streams on Spotify. His first album, Stuck In A Lovely, generated over 3.5 million streams on Spotify. With Spotify’s entrance into Bangladesh, BABA NYZA sits poised to become a fresh face with a fresh sound in a music industry littered with fans craving an international sound.