Every Beat has a story.

Zomo

“It is never where you looked. It was there a moment ago — laughing.”

Zomo, the hare, is one of the trickster characters of Hausa folktales alongside Gizo the spider and Dila the jackal. Collections of Hausa tales were published in the early twentieth century by A. J. N. Tremearne among others, and a Zomo tale was adapted for children in Gerald McDermott's picture book 'Zomo the Rabbit'.

Zomo Beats are all ears and nerve: blur-fast, impossible to corner, and convinced that the clever answer is always the fast one. They thrive in Enugu's verges and parks and race kekes for fun.

Gizo

“Before any tale is told, someone says its name. It is always listening.”

Gizo the spider is the most prominent trickster hero of Hausa folktales; according to A. J. N. Tremearne, storytellers invoked his name before telling a tale. Gizo is cunning and almost always outwits the other characters — in one tale he wins figs from a flock of crows, in another he fools crocodiles long enough to eat most of their eggs.

Gizo Beats spin webs across market rafters and unfinished buildings. Each web hums faintly with a half-told story — tug the right thread and you'll hear how it ends.

Dodo

“Run for the water. Don't look back.”

In Hausa folktales the dodo is a huge, shaggy man-eating monster of the deep bush and swamps — big enough to stoop through doorways, with a keen nose for meat, sometimes taking the form of great beasts. Some accounts say it cannot cross running water. It has nothing to do with the extinct bird of the same name.

Handling note: Single compiled secondary source; verify against Tremearne's Hausa collections before launch.

After midnight, something huge moves through Enugu's darkest bush. The Dodo hunts by smell and gives chase — but every child in Coal Camp knows the trick: run for the stream. No Dodo will follow you across running water.

Kura

“Close your stall properly. Kura is coming.”

Kūrā is Hausa for the hyena. In Hausa folktales the hyena is a greedy, dangerous character; in one tale collected by R. S. Rattray, a hyena mimics a brother's call to trick and swallow a girl, and is torn apart by the lion for refusing to give her back.

042beats' Kura is a scavenger Beat that slinks into Enugu's markets after closing time. It's greedy, it laughs at the wrong moments, and it can survive on almost nothing — which makes it harder to put down than it looks.

Giwa

“It never forgets who borrowed the grain.”

Giwa is Hausa for the elephant. In a Hausa famine tale, Gizo the spider tricks the elephant — described as master of all the lands — and the hippopotamus, master of the water, into feeding his family.

042beats' Giwa is a slow, enormous Beat that remembers every grain of the famine Gizo cheated it out of. It is gentle until you resemble a spider.