Dua Saleh

Dua Saleh
Born	Kassala

Dua Saleh
Saleh (left) performing in Brooklyn, April 2022
Background information
Also known as	Dua
Born	Kassala, Sudan
Origin	Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Rap pop R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer actor
Years active	2017–present
Labels	Against Giants
Website	www.duasaleh.com

Dua Saleh (IPA: [duˈʕæːʔ]) is a Sudanese-American singer and actor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their debut EP Nūr was released in January 2019 by the Against Giants record label to critical acclaim, with their second, Rosetta, released in June the following year.

Saleh, who came to the United States from Sudan as a child, wrote poetry from an early age. While attending Augsburg University, they began to experiment with music, eventually releasing a demo in 2017. Shortly after, they began to work with local producer Psymun and began performing their music live, culminating in their 2019 EP release. Their music has been characterized as rap, pop, and R&B, although they have also been described as defying genres. In addition to writing and recording music, Saleh has also acted in theater in Minneapolis and is known for their recurring role as Cal Bowman in the Netflix series Sex Education.

Early life

Saleh was born in Kassala, Sudan, to a family with Tunjur heritage, who are originally from Chad/Darfur. Saleh's family became refugees of the Second Sudanese Civil War in the 1990s. They fled Sudan when Saleh was five years old and moved several times, first to Eritrea, then to North Dakota, Maine, and Newark, New Jersey, before settling in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Saleh attended Saint Paul Central High School and has cited an awareness of danger, systemic oppression, and resistance in their upbringing as a source for their interest in community organizing. After graduating from high school, Saleh studied at Augsburg University where they double-majored in sociology and gender, women's, and sexuality studies. During their time at Augsburg, they led a walkout from their former high school through the St. Paul Youth and Collegiate Branch of the NAACP in protest of the school-to-prison pipeline at Central.

Career

Saleh began writing poetry when they were four years old and performed at their first open mic in their senior year of high school. They used poetry to process experiences in their life and continued performing around the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area while in school at Augsburg. They have also performed as part of the Queer Voices series at Intermedia Arts.

While studying at Augsburg and working full-time, Saleh began to find that poetry was not giving them "enough nurturing sustenance".

Following the single's release, Minneapolis producer Psymun reached out to Saleh about working together; this surprised Saleh who was familiar with Psymun's work but thought he was based in the United Kingdom. "First Take" was well-received online and was followed by the release of Saleh's first Psymun-produced single, a performance at the Eaux Claires festival, and a collaboration with Florida rapper Chester Watson ("Void Interlude"). The five-track Nūr received positive reviews from Pitchfork and Robert Christgau and was supported by a music video release for the song "Warm Pants" that April. They released two more videos that year, for "Sugar Mama" in October and for their new single "Pretty Kitten" in December.

By early 2020, Saleh was noted in the Minnesota Daily as having a national following.

On May 30, 2020, Saleh released the single "body cast" to address police brutality. Proceeds from the song's download on Bandcamp are being donated to the Minneapolis-based justice organization, Black Visions Collective. The track includes audio clips from a 2019 viral video of Angela Whitehead standing up to police who illegally entered her home. The song's video lists the names of unarmed African Americans killed by the police.