5 Sudanese Artists Shaping Music And Culture In The Diaspora
Sudan has one of the richest literary traditions in the world, with poems dating back to as early as 700 BCE. From the anti-colonial poetry of Obeid Abdul Nur in the 1920s to Ala’a Salah’s motivational protest anthems that made her a symbol of last year’s revolution, poetry and song have long been essential instruments for shaping cultural identities and framing socio-political struggles in Sudan. The East African nation also has one of Africa’s largest diasporic populations, with millions of Sudanese natives (many of whom are refugees) living outside its borders. Tangaza sheds some light on 5 Sudanese artists in the diaspora building on this musical and poetic heritage to forge new sounds and styles and build community in their respective lands.
DUA SALEH (Minnesota)
Dua Saleh found their poetic voice in St. Paul’s historically black neighborhood of Rondo where they spent their adolescence playing an active role in the Twin Cities’ vibrant slam poetry scene. At home, they absorbed the Arabic literary tradition of their native Sudan. Somewhere along the way, their poems turned to melody and with the help of producer Psymun, a new musical world was born. One that mythologizes Dua Saleh’s life stories to make space for trans, queer, non-binary narratives. Their latest single Hellbound, introduces a new alter-ego, Lucifer Labelle, to satirize the entrenched queerphobia of many major religious institutions. The video weaves together footage from anime Devilman Crybaby to accompany their impassioned lyrics. On Smuts, a cut off their forthcoming second EP ROSETTA, Dua sings in their native Arabic, contorting the language to invent new gender-neutral terminology. ROSETTA, which is inspired by rock n roll legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is poised for release in June.
GAIDAA (Netherlands)
With only four songs to her name, 20-year-old R&B Dutch songstress Gaidaa has showcased a breadth of possibility for contemporary R&B, molding her earthy voice over beats borrowed from House, Bossa-nova, and Afrobeats. On her debut single Morning Blue - an ode to Sudan written at the height of 2019’s year’s revolution, she sings chilling harmonies in English and Arabic, lamenting the human cost of justice. That same summer, she sang alongside Masego on the Dutch leg of his tour. Her first single of 2020 is a bouncy bossa inspired soul song produced by Sam Traxx. It sounds like a younger mellower cousin of Janelle Monae’s Tightrope.
MUSTAFA THE POET (Toronto)
Mustafa Ahmed is a poet, filmmaker, songwriter, and activist from Toronto’s historic Regent Park housing projects; the first in North America. He gained notoriety at the age of 12 for his poem A Single Rose, which went viral after he performed at the 2009 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival. Since then, he has been a poet laureate for Canada’s Youth, articulating and combating conditions of poverty, violence, and drug-use that plague Toronto’s predominantly black and brown inner cities. His short documentary Remember Me, Toronto, released last year, addresses the city’s staggering rates of gun violence. It features interviews from artists like Drake, Baka Not Nice, and Pressa and was scored by Noah ‘40’ Shebib. Young locals touted the film for transcending the city’s contentious street politics by reaping testimonies from rival neighborhoods. On his first single Stay Alive, the 23-year-old Halal Gang co-founder remains true to his grass-roots mission. It is an earnest plea for his loved ones not to succumb to the destructive street-life that surrounds them. His baritone is warbly and soulful, over solemn acoustic guitar picking. The unlikely video features conventional rap visuals; panning shots of his hood, young men posted up outside and on staircases, forging finger signs into the camera while Mustafa sings his gospel.
ODDISEE (Brooklyn via DMV)
Oddisee is an underground legend. He was a preeminent producer in Washington, DC’s rap scene in the early 2000s, renowned for obscure samples and layered drums. He’s a student of J Dilla and Nujabes but with a record collection that is as rich in desert blues and Ghanaian highlife as it is African-American jazz and soul. The 35-year-old producer and emcee, born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, has nearly 30 albums, beat tapes, and EPs under his belt, like Rock Creek Park, People Hear What They See, and most recently, The Iceberg. As of late, he has leaned into rapping more. Together with his band Good Company he has fine-tuned a live hip-hop band sound that would make the Jay-Z’s and the K. Dot’s proud.
SAFIA ELHILLO (صافية الحلو) ( Oakland via DMV)
Safia Elhillo is a poet and author raised in Washington, DC. She holds an MFA from the New School, is a Cave Canem fellow, and a 2018 recipient of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. Her style is a poetic take on magical realism, often contending with the rigid presumptions that come with her hyphenated and politicized identities; African, Muslim, woman, immigrant etc. Her 2016 book The January Children explores themes of displacement, cultural dissonance, religion, and colonialism grounded in her familial history and received the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and a 2018 Arab American Book Award. 2019’s Halal If You Hear Me is an anthology of poems she co-edited with Fatimah Asghar, that ‘dispels the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim’ by showcasing the work of Muslim writers of multiple, intersecting identities. She is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, working on her upcoming 2021 release, Girls That Never Die.
