Cha Wa’s high-voltage music fuses fat, funky beats with New Orleans–style brass and Mardi Gras Indian spectacle. Lead singer J’Wan Boudreaux’s gritty vocals are steeped in the Crescent City’s legendary Mardi Gras tradition, where African American men march in Native American dress, inspiring a vibrant street music. While Cha Wa honors the tradition with pulse-quickening and foot-stomping rhythms, it also adds a socially conscious element with songs that address injustice. Move to the band’s intoxicating groove and imagine yourself as part of a jubilant New Orleans second-line parade.