{"id":2199646,"date":"2025-12-15T13:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2199646"},"modified":"2025-12-15T13:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:42:12","slug":"the-spearhead-of-sudans-new-revolution-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-spearhead-of-sudans-new-revolution-music\/","title":{"rendered":"the spearhead of Sudan\u2019s new revolution music"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Album Cover)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a single person in Sudan who hasn\u2019t heard us,\u201d declares Aswat Almadina\u2019s lead singer. Ibrahim Ibn Albadya has now had to reluctantly flee his country, but the band still resounds Sudan\u2019s call for peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aswat Al Madina, meaning\u00a0\u2018The Voices of the City\u2019, are a four-piece band making surprisingly lively music in contrast to the war taking place on its doorstep. Coming together in 2014 against the backdrop of an oppressive dictatorship, their powerful music has carried Sudan through its revolution in 2018 and its subsequent war. Alongside 3.5 million others, the quartet have been forced to leave their homeland and are now scattered across Kenya, Egypt and the UAE.<\/p>\n

\n

The group\u2019s contemporary sound combines familiar Middle Eastern folk riffs with elements of urban pop and upbeat jazz<\/a>. Their gentle Sudanese Arabic vocals often platform new singers, and always highlight social issues plaguing the nation \u2013 earning them appointment as National Goodwill Ambassadors in the UN Development Programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their music hasn\u2019t stopped, but the band\u2019s creative output has definitely slowed down since their displacement. Their political voice had been so eminent in the years they had been active in Sudan that putting out songs without a social message would not suit their artists. <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cMusic, being a musician, is not just a trade. It\u2019s a calling. It\u2019s power\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim Ibn Albadya<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen you understand that this power comes from the people, you can\u2019t do it randomly anymore,\u201d Albadya told Pan African Music<\/em>.\u00a0Every song is a decision, a responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s vocalist revealed that his voice seldom stopped at just music: \u201cWe were creating messages that people used during protests. People chanted our lyrics in the streets. That\u2019s how powerful it was.\u201d The intention was not to make revolutionary music, but the people took their sound to mean something. Albadya would rather make something political than nothing at that time: \u201cI decided I couldn\u2019t stay silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aswat Almadina refrained from silence during the country\u2019s dictatorship, which proved costly. The band\u2019s fragrant expression against corruption and injustice captured the attention of Supreme Leader Omar al-Bashir\u2019s security forces, who ended up detaining and beating Albadya. Concerts were cancelled, death threats were received, but music was still reaching the people. A movement is hard to stop once its resonance has reached even the most remote areas of Sudan. <\/p>\n

Nowadays, Sudan\u2019s sounds are alive and well in hip pockets of Kenya<\/a>, a country that has embraced its refugees and their culture. Rahiem Shadad, a curator who used to run\u00a0Khartoum\u2019s Downtown Gallery, said: \u201cMost of the Sudanese people that relocated to Nairobi are cultural professionals, which translates into the type of impact they are creating.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tibian Bahari, a mixed media artist, told OkayAfrica<\/em>: \u201cAs we\u2019re all integrating within Nairobi, the art has been heavily influenced by community and peace-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albadya\u2019s exile, his confrontation with bloodshed, and his efforts to begin anew have \u201cshaped how I write, how I perform, how I connect with people.\u201d Although the band has not foreseen any live performances until \u201ca #ReturnHome concert\u201d in Khartoum, according to their Facebook page, Albadya still keeps busy in his new city. <\/p>\n

He now works to preserve Sudan\u2019s traditional instruments, documenting pieces of Sudan\u2019s musical history since a lot of artists have lost their lives or their voices during the war. But after the war is done, he muses, \u201cA new generation will carry the message.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n