Dua Saleh

Dua Saleh ( , Sudanese ) is a Sudanese-American singer and actor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They released their debut EP in 2019 followed by two additional EPs in 2020 and 2021, and their first studio album in 2024.

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. A concept album about two lovers meeting, breaking up, and meeting again while the world ends, Saleh cowrote the 11 tracks on the record with Emma DD and Josef Lamercier.

In addition to writing and performing music and poetry, Saleh has also acted, including in 20% Theatre Company's November 2018 production of Waafrika 123 in Minneapolis. They returned for the fourth season, which was released in 2023.

Musical style and influences Listen filename= Dua Saleh - Sugar Mama.ogg pos= right title= "Sugar Mama" description=Audio sample of the single "Sugar Mama", from Saleh's debut EP Nūr. Saleh sings about a neighbor with a rich father. In high school, they were elected vice president of Central's gay–straight alliance; when their mother discovered pamphlets for the organization in their backpack, she sent Saleh to Dugsi Academy, an Islamic charter school in Saint Paul. They came out as non-binary while in their second year at Augsburg but have said they have "always been on gay shit". They live in Minneapolis.

Discography Studio albums I Should Call Them (2024) Of Earth & Wires (2026)

EPs Nūr (2019) Rosetta (2020) Crossover (2021)