Rapper Jal turns "harrowing" memories into music

By Nigel Williamson

LONDON (Billboard) - Sudanese child-soldier-turned-rapper Emmanuel Jal admits that he had to tone down the lyrics of his new album, "Warchild."

"If I described everything I've seen and done, the record would be too harrowing," the 28-year-old says.

The autobiographical songs on "Warchild" -- released internationally through Sonic360 May 13 in the United States (where it's distributed by Fontana/Universal) -- still tell a horrific story.

By the age of 8, Jal was fighting in the Sudan People's Liberation Army, carrying an AK-47 rifle bigger than he was. After five years as a soldier in Sudan's bitter civil war, he escaped the SPLA in 1993, when a British aid worker smuggled him into Kenya and sent him to school. Songs like "Forced to Sin" and "Shadow of Death" detail his experiences so directly and disturbingly that one wonders what the uncensored versions might have sounded like.

"Warchild" is Jal's third album but his international solo debut, following 2004's "Gua," a gospel/rap set self-released only in Kenya, and 2005's "Ceasefire" (Riverboat Records/World Music Network), a collaboration with traditional Sudanese Muslim singer Abdel Gadir Salim. Distributed in the United States through Universal, "Ceasefire" attracted considerable attention in world-music circles.

"Warchild" moves Jal into more mainstream hip-hop territory, but he distances himself from the genre's image. One song on the album is called "No Bling," while "50 Cent" is a direct appeal to the rapper to be a better role model.

"Hip-hop artists have to take responsibility," Jal says. "I wanted to talk to him, but that wasn't possible, so I wrote him a song."

A U.K. resident since 2005, Jal flew to the States on April 27 for promotional events in Los Angeles and New York, where he attended the U.S. premiere of a documentary film about his life, also called "Warchild," at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In addition to concert dates that are being scheduled, Jal will play Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert June 27 in London's Hyde Park, alongside Eminem, Queen and Annie Lennox.

"I'm not turning away from the world-music audience which has supported me," Jal says. "There's still an African influence in my music. I don't try to sound American. I rap like an African, because that's what I am. In the song 'Warchild,' I say I survived for a reason: to tell my story. I believe that. I feel a responsibility to do these songs and tell the world what is happening in my country."

Reuters/Billboard