After two decades of living in the US and fronting the successful Afro-pop band Elikeh, bandleader Massama Dogo yearned to release music inspired by his home country of Togo. Now splitting his time between Washington, DC and Togo’s capital Lomé, he set out to create a brand new sound that put his roots and culture on the musical map: the alagaa beat.

Combining iconic rhythms of the Ewe, Mina, Ga, and Kabye people, such as kamou, kpanlogo, kinka and bobobo, alagaa blossoms from a complex interplay between the drum kit and rhythm guitar, with a distinctive double snare hit and a guitar part based on the traditional gankogui bell pattern. Alagaa means ‘trance’ in Ewe, “because when you listen to this music,” says Dogo, “if you don't get in a trance, then something’s wrong with you! The alagaa beat brings the energy right away. As soon as you bring it in, it just feels different, it takes you somewhere else.” The melodies, too, are anchored in Togo’s cultural history, using unique pentatonic scales known as mina or mami, derived from the music of the local Vodún religion and traditions that permeate everyday life in Togo.