Interview: Get to know Brooklyn’s Sudan [@WhoIsSudxn]

Brooklyn is home to a lot of exciting talent and Sudan is no exception.

We caught up with New York’s Sudan, on her brief trip in London to talk her career so far and more. The young talent recently graduated from college and now that her studies are over has fully immersed herself in her passion for music. Although New York based, Sudan is actually of Nigerian heritage which is something that is both important to her personally but also translates across into the music as well. Beyond getting to know Sudan better you can also get a chance to see her sense of style a lot better through the amazing editorial shot by Shenell Kennedy and styled by Femi Ayo.

What’s your earliest memory or experience with music?

My earliest memory with music is probably seeing my uncle watching battle rap. He used to watch it on the TV or YouTube and that’s where I got interested. I believe I was like 9 or 10.

You recently graduated congrats, what made you go down the educational route when you’re so musically talented?

Thank you. So when I graduated high school I did not want to go to college but my mum made a bargain with me that “if you don’t finish school, I won’t support you with your music”. So that’s kind of why I went to college.

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You’re Nigerian, how important is your cultural heritage to you?

Extremely important! I want to know my families history. It’s important to me that I go back home to see how my mum lived before she came to the States. Even just learning about the food, our clothes, etcetera it’s all important to me.

You also grew up in NYC though, so how has that shaped your experiences?

Growing up in New York it wasn’t always cool to be African. I used to get called African booty scratcher and all this stuff but it just makes me strong I guess. It just made me a stronger individual and taught me to love my uniqueness. But you know that just kind of comes with being from New York.

At what point did you start to take music seriously?

Seriously…I started taking music seriously at around the age of 16. That’s when I was like this is something I really want to do, it’s not just a hobby anymore. I really feel like I’m supposed to be entertaining.

Who or what genres were your early musical influences?

I remember listening to Nicki Minaj a lot when she first started. Then later fell in love with Pro Era, got introduced to Azealia Banks, Kendrick Lamar so those are the people that I was really listening to heavy.

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There’s a new wave of female artists, rappers in particular, that are at the forefront at the moment – how important do you think that is to see for women?

Its’s extremely important. i remember it just being one or two females at a time. Now just seeing everybody, every female doing her own thing is just really empowering. It’s really important to see. Everybody has their contribution it’s not just one at a time. If 10 men can do it then so can 10 women at the same time.

If you could work with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

So right now, I would really love to work with WizKid I’m not gonna lie. WizKid just gives me vibes. Rema as well, vibes. They make me feel good when I listen to their music.

As a member of the class of 2020, what would you say your biggest lesson has been this year?

Honestly, to not take life for granted and just stop trying to speed. I wanted to plan everything and just do, do, and do. I couldn’t wait to walk across the stage and get my degree and that didn’t happen. I just had to simmer down and just reflect. So a lesson for me was to just not take things for granted and to stop over planning, just enjoy the present.

What can we expect next from Sudan?

Good ass music, and that’s on that! That’s what you can expect.

You can check out Sudan‘s music here.

• Photography by: @shenellkennedy
• Interview & words by: @z_chibs
• Styled by: @fxmii / @bbystyl3
  • Look 1 – Coat: Rue Agthonis, Three piece green set: Uooyaa, Shoes & Accessories: Models Own
  • Look 2 – Top: Uooyaa, Jeans, Shoes & Accessories: Models Own