pantropical

You live in a region with a rich and diverse music tradition, but the music scene in Sudan seems mostly acoustic-based and strongly connected to folkloric practices. What is it like being a producer of (to put it broadly) electronic music in Khartoum?

The general vibe in the local scene is acoustic, but there are a lot of musicians doing other nice things too, like hiphop. There have always been a good number of rappers around, and producers too, as well as other vocalists and R&B singers. Now as far as electronic music goes, we are very few in number, but it doesn’t matter much. Since most of my activity is online. I started around seven years ago, and it was mainly hiphop, eventually experimenting and trying out new things, and I always wanted to incorporate a lot of Sudanese elements in my production, which lead me to branching out a little bit away from hiphop, and the more I developed my sound, the less I cared about genres. My sound is very niche-based, but I always try to keep an open mind with it, and I do what I feel at a given moment. Not only Sudanese music, but it’s simply the music I grew up listening to, and I was naturally interested in exploring it fully.

I read somewhere that you once sat down with a local percussionist in order to understand the basics of Sudanese drumming and the differences between Nubian rhythms and drumming from other parts of the country. Is it challenging to navigate between all these sounds?

It is a bit challenging yes, especially when I’m going for a very specific sound in my head, it gets tricky to put it on paper. But generally Nubian drumming, like East African music in general, is very hiphop friendly, and can be very experimental at times, so it isn’t necessarily hard to work with, but it is tricky to do it in a way that is not too predictable.

How has your music been received in Sudan?

Locally, my music has been received well among a smaller niche audience, and I’m thankful for that, especially since the type of experimental music I produce isn’t something the average music lover here would be able to digest easily. Which leads to a smaller crowd of local fans than international ones, but there are other factors too, like the fact that I upload most of my music on Bandcamp, which most people here don’t know about much, or online music purchase restrictions due to economic sanctions – so it’s an accessibility issue too that stands in the way from proper exposure. There are a lot of factors in play that’s preventing my musical growth locally.

My music has been received very well abroad, especially Europe and North America. Which is understandable, cause while my music has a distinctive Sudanese element, the base of it all is western.

The 'Ascension EP' that came out earlier this year is your fifth release. How does it differ from your previous works?

To me, 'Ascension EP' is the type of sound I was trying to go for from the beginning, but I wasn’t comfortable enough with my skills back then, I’m still trying to develop it to this day, so the EP was more of a project that I wanted to get out of my system at that time, so I could carry on with more projects.

The graphic used for the cover artwork is pretty fascinating.

It’s basically a woman dressed in traditional clothing from the western part of Sudan, more specifically the Baggara tribe. It doesn't represent anything in particular. When I design an art work, I look for a certain feel that goes with the music. The source material can be very random, and it doesn’t matter that much. Its more about the vibe, certain parts, the colors, etc.

As a producer, do you pay attention to what’s happening in different scenes in your neighbouring countries?

Yes, I’ve been paying attention to the scenes in neighbouring countries, like Ethiopia, they seem to have a lot of great musicians, like Mikael Seifu, who I’m a big fan of. And Waayaha Cusub in Somalia. I do see development in Sudan, it's slow, but its growing, I haven’t been keeping up with the scene here during the last year or so, but there are a lot of up and coming musicians doing different genres.

It’s your first time performing in the Netherlands. What would you like us to understand about your music?

Honestly, just try and enjoy the music as it is, I don’t usually try and push any specific vibe or feel, I leave it open ended, so listen to the music and have your own interpretation.