Behind every independent release there is a story that streaming numbers can rarely tell in full. Sometimes that story begins with an immediate spark of inspiration; other times, it is built slowly through uncertainty, long nights, unfinished ideas and the difficult decision to keep going when giving up would probably feel easier.
For Hazzy Jo, “London” belongs firmly to the second category.
The track is part of "Hazzan D Great", a five-track EP that came to life after years of work, hesitation and persistence. According to the artist, the project was shaped by countless sleepless nights and several moments when the people involved felt ready to walk away from their musical ambitions altogether. Eventually, however, they made the opposite choice: they decided to “break up with their doubts” and finally give their music the opportunity to exist beyond the studio.
That background immediately gives “London” a significance that reaches beyond the track itself. Rather than standing alone, it becomes one chapter in a larger story about perseverance, ambition and, above all, the courage to stop waiting for the perfect moment to begin.
In this article:
- A project shaped by persistence
- “London” and the identity of Hazzan D Great
- From Lagos to a wider audience
- The value of discovering independent music
- More than streaming numbers
- Why “London” deserves another listen
- Final Thoughts
- Victor Bendo Selections Rating
A project shaped by persistence
Independent music is often judged by what listeners can see and hear at the end of the process: the production, the vocals, the streams, the playlist placements and the reaction from an audience. What remains hidden is everything that happens before a song reaches a streaming platform.
For Hazzy Jo, Hazzan D Great appears to have been exactly that kind of journey.
The EP was not born out of effortless confidence. On the contrary, the artist openly describes a creative process marked by doubt, exhaustion and frustration. There were moments when the project seemed unlikely to move forward, yet those difficulties eventually became part of the reason to complete it rather than abandon it.
That makes the record especially compelling, because its very existence becomes part of its message.
There is a meaningful difference between releasing music when everything is going according to plan and releasing it after repeatedly questioning whether the plan is worth pursuing at all. In the second case, every finished track becomes evidence of a decision: the decision to continue.
“London” carries that history with it.
"Hazzan D Great" official album cover
“London” and the identity of Hazzan D Great
Within the five-track project, “London” helps introduce the musical world Hazzy Jo was beginning to build around Hazzan D Great. Rooted in contemporary African sounds and connected to the wider Afrobeat and Afrosounds landscape, the project reflects an artist interested in combining his own background with a broader and internationally accessible musical language.
Hazzy Jo comes from Lagos, Nigeria, a city that has become one of the most influential creative centres in contemporary African music. Over the last decade, Lagos has played a major role in the global rise of Afrobeats, producing and inspiring artists whose music now moves naturally between Africa, Europe, North America and the rest of the world.
That context matters when approaching Hazzy Jo’s music.
His influences include major Nigerian artists such as Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido and Mr Eazi, alongside international names from pop, hip-hop and crossover music. This combination suggests an artistic direction that does not seem interested in being confined to a single rigid definition. Instead, it reflects the increasingly fluid nature of modern music, where Afrobeat, pop, dancehall, hip-hop and electronic production can interact without erasing the identity at the centre of the sound.
“London” sits naturally within this space.
Rather than feeling like a track created simply to follow a trend, it works as part of an early artistic statement in which Hazzy Jo begins to define his own identity and explore where his music might lead next.
From Lagos to a wider audience
The title “London” immediately introduces an international reference into a project created by an artist whose roots remain closely connected to Lagos.
It would be easy to attach a deeper symbolic interpretation to the title, but without a direct explanation from the artist, the more interesting point is actually simpler: it fits naturally within a project that feels ambitious beyond its immediate surroundings.
Modern Afrobeats has shown that local identity and international ambition do not need to exist in opposition. Some of the genre’s most successful artists have reached global audiences precisely because they preserved the rhythms, melodic character and cultural influences that made their music distinctive in the first place.
Hazzy Jo’s approach appears to belong to that same broader movement.
The objective is not to erase where the music comes from in order to make it more accessible elsewhere. The real opportunity lies in allowing those influences to travel, evolve and interact with different audiences without losing their original character.
That is where “London” feels particularly fitting within Hazzan D Great: it forms part of a project born in Lagos but clearly created with the ambition of being heard beyond it.
The value of discovering independent music
One of the most interesting aspects of music discovery today is that release dates matter far less than they once did.
A song does not necessarily disappear when its first promotional campaign ends. Streaming platforms, independent playlists and online music communities have created an environment in which older releases can continue to reach new listeners months or even years after their original publication.
For independent artists, that possibility is especially valuable.
Without the promotional infrastructure available to major-label releases, many songs never reach their full potential audience when they first come out. Sometimes a track simply needs more time, a new playlist placement or the right listener discovering it at the right moment.
That is one of the reasons why returning to a track like “London” still makes sense.
Good music discovery does not need to follow a calendar.
A listener does not experience a song as old when hearing it for the first time. They simply experience the song.
For artists like Hazzy Jo, this creates the possibility for projects such as Hazzan D Great to continue finding an audience long after their original release and to develop a story beyond the moment they first appeared online.
More than streaming numbers
There is another reason why the story behind Hazzan D Great deserves attention.
The modern music industry has become increasingly focused on measurable results. Artists are constantly surrounded by numbers: monthly listeners, followers, saves, playlist positions, views and engagement rates.
Those statistics have value, but they can also make it surprisingly easy to forget what comes before them.
Before an artist can reach one thousand streams, they have to release the first song. Before they can build an audience, they have to accept the possibility that the audience may not appear immediately. And before a project can ever become successful, someone first has to believe that it is worth finishing.
That initial step is often far more difficult than it looks from the outside.
Hazzy Jo’s description of Hazzan D Great captures that reality particularly well. He speaks openly about the years behind the project, the sleepless nights and the moments when giving up became a genuine possibility. The most important part of the story, however, is that the music eventually won.
The doubts didn't necessarily disappear; they simply stopped making the final decision.
Why “London” deserves another listen
Placed within this wider context, “London” becomes more than another independent release competing for attention.
It represents one part of an artist’s decision to finally pursue a musical ambition that had repeatedly been questioned.
That does not mean the story should overshadow the music itself. A strong background can add depth to a release, but listeners ultimately return to songs because they connect with what they hear.
What the story does provide is perspective.
Understanding what it took to complete Hazzan D Great adds another dimension to the listening experience and makes the project feel considerably more personal. Instead of hearing five unrelated tracks, the listener is introduced to an artist at the beginning of a more serious creative chapter.
And sometimes those early chapters are the most interesting.
They capture artists before every element of their identity has been fully defined, at a point where experimentation, ambition and uncertainty still coexist. There is a sense of possibility in that stage, because the direction is not completely fixed and the artist is still discovering which ideas will eventually become central to the music.
“London” feels like part of that process.
Final Thoughts
Hazzy Jo’s “London” is best understood as part of the larger story surrounding Hazzan D Great.
According to the artist, the five-track EP required years of persistence and survived several moments when continuing no longer felt certain. That makes the project more than a simple collection of songs: it becomes the result of an artist finally deciding that doubt should not be allowed to have the final word.
With his roots in Lagos and an artistic direction influenced by contemporary African music as well as a wider international soundscape, Hazzy Jo presents himself as an artist still developing his musical identity while already looking beyond geographical and stylistic boundaries.
“London” captures one part of that journey.
Perhaps the most meaningful idea behind the track, however, has very little to do with genre, it's about starting.
Independent artists can spend years waiting for the right song, the right opportunity, the right audience or the right moment. In reality, those conditions rarely arrive perfectly aligned. At some point, an artist simply has to release the music and allow the story to begin.
Hazzy Jo came close to allowing uncertainty to stop that story before it truly started.
Hazzan D Great was the moment he chose differently.
And “London” is one of the songs that now exists because of that choice.
Victor Bendo Selections Rating
Production & Sound: 8.1/10
Artistic Identity: 8.2/10
Concept & Story: 8.7/10
International Potential: 8.2/10
Playlist Potential: 8.3/10
Replay Value: 8.1/10
