Bollywood meets ’90s hip-hop, in new mixtape album Shaboo

A sample-filled ride through childhood street riddims.

What did your family road trips sound like? If you’re Don Leisure, they were a kind of Madlib meets NxWorries-esque hybrid: “Whilst I tried to learn the lyrics to ’90s hip-hop songs taped off my cousins, my Mum would constantly interrupt, interspersing my boom bap with bonkers Indian radio ads.”

Inspired by long car rides of his youth, Leisure has crafted Shaboo, a 25-track album, equal parts Bollywood, hip-hop pirate radio recordings, nagging from the parentals, and ’80s r’n’b classics.

Like any great mixtape, the record is more than the sum of its parts, tuning you in to a journey that begins with fuzzy Indian radio station scrolls, through bass-fuelled rhythms, closing with a familiar, funked-out edit.

Shaboo is perfect summer fare, whether your next stop is crate-digging or a schlep through the M4. Listen to an exclusive stream of ‘The Rubaiyat Of Leisure’ and ‘Proper Weirdo’, plus ‘Souffle’ and ‘Tell Me’ below:

Shaboo by Don Leisure

Pre-order a copy from Darkhouse Family’s bandcamp page now.