{"id":96488,"date":"2022-01-12T12:54:19","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T11:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=96488"},"modified":"2023-03-16T13:20:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:20:10","slug":"pa-salieu-afrikan-rebel-from-gambia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/pa-salieu-afrikan-rebel-from-gambia\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa Salieu, Afrikan Rebel from Gambia to the Frontline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/pa-salieu\/\">Pa Salieu<\/a> rolls deep. Backstage at <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/le-guess-who\/\">Le Guess Who?<\/a> festival I found the Coventry rapper with a hefty entourage in decked out jumpers and designer coats. Pa was in the corner of the dressing room in a sea green tracksuit getting some shots taken with a photographer. My interview started without Pa, his entourage grilling me on the basics; \u201c<em>Why are you here? What do you know about African music?<\/em>\u201d and so on. I rolled with the punches and gave my answers straight up. Gradually suspicion turned amicable. Humble beginnings, love for music, and an invitation to the psychedelic Nyege Nyege after party happening down the street was enough to earn some nods and daps from the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>You\u2019re the first person we met with any manners around here,<\/em>\u201d one of them said to me as Pa got his last photos in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Pa Salieu - My Family feat BackRoad Gee (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xxTV3vODb3s?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Pa Salieu &#8211; Bad (ft. Aitch) Official Video<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Enter the Afrikan Rebel<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Pa came and sat down across from me, staring me down with heavy eyes and rough mistrust. The entourage, making a semicircle on either side of us, fell silent. A fan hummed in the background.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>So what does it mean to be an Afrikan rebel?<\/em>\u201d I asked, breaking the silence and referring to his most recent 3 track EP of the same name. Pa looked back, flared his lip and responded, \u201c<em>What do you think it means?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From that moment I knew this was no ordinary interview. Pa is not flexing, nor does he have anything to prove. It\u2019s a consequence of the \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IaQjlagBnG0\" target=\"_blank\">Frontline<\/a>\u201d; a reference to the Coventry block and name of Pa Salieu\u2019s massive hit that lives in the brutal realities of Coventry street life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>You won\u2019t believe what I\u2019ve seen already<\/em>,\u201d Pa explains to me, \u201c<em>and this is not that time for it. But I\u2019ll tell you one thing, it makes that Afrikan Rebel movement even harder.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what does Afrikan Rebel mean? Pa would suggest to listen carefully to his music and figure it out for yourself. That said, \u201c<em>Afrikan Rebel is not just music<\/em>\u201d Pa explains, \u201c<em>Where the world began, where did humans come from? It\u2019s like that\u2026.if you understand, you\u2019re a rebel, if you don\u2019t\u2026\u201d <\/em>Pa shrugs,<em> \u201cyou get me?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1155\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-1010x1155.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-96493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-1010x1155.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-759x868.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-1440x1647.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-661x756.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-465x532.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2-375x429.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-2.jpg 1749w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\u00a9 Jelmer de Haas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From The Gambia to the \u201cFrontline\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>I still didn\u2019t get it and wasn\u2019t planning to front like I did. Then again I hadn\u2019t had the same degree of existential intervention Pa has experienced in his 24 years. Maybe it\u2019s losing a close friend at a young age, or the 9 shots taken to the head. Perhaps it&#8217;s his notorious run-ins with the law that lead to a cancelled headline show near his hometown. In any case, for Pa, this is not a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>I\u2019m not a punchline artist. If I say this, it\u2019s something to be thought about.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For most, Pa\u2019s story begins in 2020 with the release of the single \u201cFrontline\u201d followed by his critically acclaimed debut album <em><a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/pa-salieu-the-crowning-glory-of-coventry\/\">Send Them To Coventry<\/a><\/em>. From there Pa went on to headline shows, appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and run the full circuit of certified success.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Pa&#8217;s story begins much earlier, spending the first 8 years of his life in his parent\u2019s native Gambia living with his grandmother. There, Pa was brought up alongside his aunt, a traditional Gambian folk singer, and in a world that differed starkly from his later experiences in the UK, by his own account.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>You know what gets shown back home, it\u2019s only poverty and that. It\u2019s not just poverty. We have less. There\u2019s stuff being robbed from us. But you see a place full of love that will survive with little. See that\u2019s different,\u201d&nbsp; <\/em>Pa explains<em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>I was born in this country <\/em>(UK)<em>, I was raised in Gambia. So I saw an element of me and my past, where it should be. Of love. And I came here, and there\u2019s love but it\u2019s very different. There we eat on one plate. Everyone eats with their hands. Growing up that fixes something into your brain. You come here and you eat with your own plate. Singles, singles<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He remarks, finally, \u201c<em>I was selfless there. I saw what selfishness is here,<\/em>\u201d followed by a weighty pause. \u201c<em>I never experienced racism until I came to this country\u2026<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Pa Salieu - Shining (feat. Tay Iwar &amp; Zlatan)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jIp0_Hao6mk?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Pa Salieu &#8211; Shining (feat. Tay Iwar &amp; Zlatan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A symbol not an image<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The more we speak the more I begin to see the outlines of <em>Afrikan Rebe<\/em>l. It\u2019s a return to the source, a washboard for preconceptions. It\u2019s romantic and esoteric, but grounded in instinct. Whether I\u2019m catching on or not, one can hear in Pa Salieu\u2019s music the same elusive aesthetic. It\u2019s the insanely catchy \u201cStyle and Fashion\u201d feat. <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/obongjayar\/\">Obongjayar<\/a> or the dancehall-trap with BlackRoad Gee on \u201cMy Family\u201d, each track is hyphy and foreign.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>If you don\u2019t look at other songs and try to be influenced by this and that, you\u2019ll have your own DNA.<\/em>\u201d Pa explains.<em> \u201cEven if you can\u2019t sing you have your own thing. Me back home in the suburbs you get people actually dancing to the drums. It&#8217;s a rhythm. There\u2019s a lot of rhythm. You see them outside, they jumpin\u2019. This is rhythm. Fighting,\u201d <\/em>Pa mimes a few punches, \u201c<em>it\u2019s a rhythm. It\u2019s science bro. Either you deep it or not. Everyone has their own journeys. My perspective is different<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps it\u2019s also related to Pa\u2019s frequent references to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_OOaStQopUE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">energy<\/a>\u201d like in the closing track of his debut album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Why you keep wastin&#8217; your \u0435nergy?<\/em><br><em>Never let them draw out the energy<\/em><br><em>They just want you fall &#8217;cause their jealousy<\/em><br><em>Yeah, protect your energy<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I try to pin the idea under a microscope, but Pa won\u2019t budge. Even for this wordsmith, descriptions of this feeling are ambiguous. \u201c<em>This is why I call it spiritual,\u201d <\/em>says Pa.<em> \u201cI grew up in a mosque when I was in Gambia, you know what I\u2019m sayin? When I got into music all these melodies, all this everything. I know I ain\u2019t done no choir lessons. It must have come from elements. In life, you learn without even realizing. It\u2019s just normal. Humans. Spiritual. It came from nowhere and I use it to take it somewhere. Luckily for me, this is a symbol not an image.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1514\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-1010x1514.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-96494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-1010x1514.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-759x1138.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-661x991.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-465x697.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3-375x562.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pa-Salieu-3.jpg 1334w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\u00a9 Jelmer de Haas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Militant Motherfuckers<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m intrigued enough at this point. There\u2019s gravity and consequence in each phrase. But where is this mass pulling? To what end is Pa Salieu trying to move bodies? The method is clear; rhythm. Head bopping, fist wielding rhythm. Catch Pa\u2019s work with Slowthai, Aitch, or <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/prettyboy-d-o\/?_per_page=17\">Prettyboy D-O<\/a> if you need another taste.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>This is not philosophy, this is all by force.<\/em>\u201d Pa Salieu exclaims.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked where all this rebellion comes from, in a roundabout way to get to where it\u2019s going. \u201c<em>That comes from real life.<\/em>\u201d Pa says without hesitation.<em> <\/em>\u201c<em>I\u2019m from Coventry. Facts is what you\u2019re getting, in my own way. And the rhythm will always be there because that\u2019s within me. It\u2019s within everyone isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s all a pattern fam.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>So what\u2019s next?<\/em>\u201d I pleaded, doing my best to get a straight answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>It\u2019s a rise of militant motherfuckers. It\u2019s that time.<\/em>\u201d Pa says, giving me a look to let me know he\u2019s serious.<em> \u201cIt\u2019s that stubbornness time. We don\u2019t care bro. We don\u2019t care. It\u2019s love or no love. We don\u2019t care if it\u2019s no love. Either you look forward with us, or it is what it is. My music ain\u2019t to please nobody. But my music ain\u2019t cap (<\/em>isn\u2019t fake<em>). You gonna hear how it is.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strong words.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>And again, if you\u2019re not understand, you&#8217;re gonna have to go back and listen.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen to Pa Salieu\u2019s latest EP <em><a href=\"https:\/\/pasalieu.co\/afrikanrebel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Afrikan Rebel<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pa-salieu-afrikan-rebel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87574\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Guess Who Festival in Utrecht, PAM sat down with Pa Salieu to discuss what it means to be an Afrikan Rebel, the name of the Coventry rapper\u2019s latest EP. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":96500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833],"tags":[24838,22042,23741],"location":[7988],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,27666,8414,8447,8933,8896,8618,12630,8402,12747,12746,8412,18625,8543,8438,38580,39844,8545],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96488"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=96488"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=96488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}