Dua Saleh

Dua Saleh (Arabic: دعاء صالح Du‘ā’ Ṣāliḥ, Sudanese Arabic pronunciation: [duʕæː(ʔ) sˤɑːleħ]) 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. 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. Saleh has also been involved with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, the Pan Afrikan Student Union, the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, and Augsburg's LGBTQIA Student Services. They graduated from Augsburg in 2017.