WOMAD

Emmanuel Jal

From Sudan

One of hip-hop’s more negative legacies has been the glorification of gun culture by its less considered individuals. Many rappers have moved in completely the opposite direction, denouncing firearms and the havoc they wreak, but one knows more than most. As a pre-teen, Emmanuel Jal was an Uzi-toting child soldier in the civil war that split Sudan in two, before he was smuggled out of the country by a British aid worker to the comparative safety of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Emmanuel then put all of his energies into music, his sharp rhymes and peaceful message now his chosen weapons. His debut album of last year, Ceasefire, not only showcased an eloquent spokesman for his continent but also, in making the album with legendary Sudanese bandleader Abdel Gadir Salim, the inheritor – and re-definer – of Sudan’s musical traditions. Taking every chance he can get to spotlight the plight of Africa (he’s a figurehead for Save The Children), he appeared alongside Gorillaz and Kaiser Chiefs on the War Child album and also doorstepped Bob Geldof last summer to take him to task for the lack of African artists on the Hyde Park leg of Live8. When Emmanuel Jal opens his mouth, people listen.In a few words… Sudanese child soldier turned rap messenger