Baba Zula, stylized as BaBa ZuLa, is a Turkish alternative musical group founded in Istanbul in 1996 by Levent Akman, Osman Murat Ertel, and Emre Onel as a side project of the psychedelic Anatolian rock group ZeN. The band began performing internationally at the Kumanova Jazz Festival in 2003, building an international audience alongside a cult following in Turkey. Its sound combines traditional Turkish instruments, such as the electric saz, with electronica, reggae, and dub. In 2005, the group gained wider international recognition when it was featured in the Fatih Akin documentary Crossing the Bridge. Its discography includes the soundtrack Tabutta Rövaşata (1996) and the studio albums Üç Oyundan Onyedi Müzik (1999), Psychebelly Dance Music (2003), Duble Oryantal (2005), Derin Derin (2019), and İstanbul Sokakları (2024). The group has performed at numerous international events, which include the Roskilde Festival, the Venice Biennial, and the Printemps de Bourges.
