Thanks to the breakthrough success of his wildly-popular 2022 single, “Mi Amore”, Tanzanian singer Marioo has ascend to a whole new level of visibility. Keen to keep that momentum going on his debut album, the singer (born Omary Mwanga) infuses elements of reggaeton, Afroboeats, amapiano, and hip-hop into his modernist Bongo Flava sound to thrilling effect across the project’s 17 tracks. “What inspired me primarily is the depth of the music from the places I identify with,” Marioo tells Apple Music. “I want my fans to enjoy the music and see The Kid You Know as the continuity of my work as an artist. I’ve been releasing singles for a while and it just feels like the right time for my fans to enjoy a body of work from me. I also have ambitions to be a global success, and releasing this album is a step in that direction, because I believe in this album.” Pieced together across two years, the songs on The Kid You Know show variance and give life to Marioo’s artistic credentials—without sacrificing his hit-making prowess—while pulling from a strong cross-continental cast that includes Gaz Mawete, Jeeba, and LADIPOE, amongst others. “My fans know I bring the heat with my music,” Marioo says. “Also, there’s always something for everybody in my music.” Read on as the singer runs through some of the most important tracks from his debut album.” “My Life” “‘My Life’ is the story of who I am and what my life has been like. I wanted to open the album with a song about where I’m from, what my upbringing was like, and how my journey has been as a musician. Before I got into music, I worked as a mechanic, so I’m also encouraging people not to let go of their dreams and keep working on the things that mean a lot to them. It’s just a real song that captures all I’ve been through and where I’m headed. It was produced by BlackBeatz.” “Lonely (feat. Loui)” [Marioo & Abbah] “'Loui is an amazing artist from Tanzania and ‘Lonely’ is about trying to reach out to a loved one or romantic partner because they are far away. I’m telling her that I miss her and I can’t wait till she’s back with me, because that’s just how I feel and I like to be honest with how I feel in my music. So, 'Lonely' is about love and what it feels like to miss someone you care about. The song was produced by Abbah Process.” “Mapenzi" “'Mapenzi' is the Swahili word for ‘love’, and this song talks about the hold love has on me and how much I appreciate the love I experience with a partner. I’m trying to say that you can take away my house, burn it, take away my cars and wreck them—but never make the mistake of doing that with my lover, because I’m going to come for you. This song was also produced by BlackBeatz and it’s just an interesting tale of being completely head-over-heels in love and how it makes me feel and what it can make me do.” “Overdose” [Marioo & LADIPOE] “'Overdose' is another song about love and how it feels like it's overpowering me. I have LADIPOE from Nigeria on the song. LADIPOE recorded his verse and I loved it because it was something I’d been looking forward to for a while. When Ladipoe went back to Nigeria, he recorded again and sent additional vocals for the song and it just came out really great.” “Mi Amore” [Marioo & Jovial] “This is a special song that thankfully became a hit. It blew up across Africa and Jovial added a special touch to it. The success of this song has led to many opportunities and collaborations like the remix which is also on the album. That remix has Gaz Mawete from Congo and Jeeba from Senegal, because it also did really well in those countries as well.” “I Miss” [Marioo & Alikiba] “This is one of my best songs on the album. Just like the title says, it’s a song about missing someone you care about and Alikiba made it really special. He’s a big artist in Tanzania and around the continent so the experience was great working with him. I think people will enjoy this one because it also talks about daily life and how people miss each other. We all know love runs the world, and this song speaks to that.” “Laga Laga” [Marioo & Dunnie] “'Laga Laga' features Dunnie. She’s a Nigerian singer and producer and she's really great at her work. It was easy to work with her as well because we had a conversation about what I was trying to do and I sent her the song. Three days later she sent it back with her vocals and it was really great.” “Naogopa” [Marioo & Harmonize] “Harmonize is well-known for his hits and he's also a fellow countryman so it was great to work with him on this project. 'Na Gopa' means 'I’m afraid’, and I’m talking about being afraid of losing my loved ones because they mean so much to me and I wouldn’t be able to function without them. It’s also me saying that I don’t want them far away from me and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.” “Djudju” [Marioo & Fiki Fameica] “'Djudju' features Fiki Fameica from Uganda, and we’re talking about witchcraft here but not how we know it. The song is about us comparing love to having a spell cast over them because of how crazy they are about a girl.” “Mi Amor (Remix)” [Marioo & Gaz Mawete & Jeeba] “The original version of 'Mi Amor' has had over 1.5 billion views on TikTok and there are a lot of people listening across the world. We decided to try and expand the reach of the song and we wanted something for the Francophone audience because a lot of East African music is close to them. So, we decided to work with Gaz Mewete and Jeeba who are influential artists and they came on the song with pleasure.”