{"id":63919,"date":"2026-05-05T14:44:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/dua-saleh-on-new-music-diasporic-identity-ai-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:44:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:44:32","slug":"dua-saleh-on-new-music-diasporic-identity-ai-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/dua-saleh-on-new-music-diasporic-identity-ai-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Dua Saleh on New Music, Diasporic Identity, AI, Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tNatural catastrophes keep following Dua Saleh<\/a>. When the singer-songwriter moved to Glendale, California, a few years ago, they found themselves ill-prepared for Los Angeles\u2019 annual wildfires. When they decamped to Wales to film the Netflix show Sex Education<\/a><\/em>, they were taken aback by the flooding in Cardiff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of these experiences got Saleh, 31, thinking deeply about dystopia and destruction. They wrote a song called \u201cFlood.\u201d They began thinking more about the planet, its ecosystems, and its long-term sustainability. \u201cI was like, \u2018Damn, we\u2019re not paying enough attention to how our home is being affected,\u2019\u201d they say. \u201cWe\u2019re apathetic: There\u2019s so much nihilism in our society because we\u2019re just traumamaxxing, but we\u2019re also watching politicians jestermaxxing. We can\u2019t take it seriously, because how do we do that when everything is so abysmal? Drones are bombing countries because of AI. We\u2019re being surveilled by AI. Water sources are being depleted because of AI. I\u2019m watching the world crash out as it\u2019s depleted of its sources of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs an actor, writer, and singer, Saleh is accustomed to processing calamity through art. The Sudan-born, Minneapolis-raised, L.A.-residing singer-artist has found an increased profile in recent years due to their work on Sex Education<\/em> as well as a high-profile credit on Travis Scott<\/a>\u2019s 2023 album Utopia<\/em>. They\u2019ve collaborated with artists like Serpentwithfeet and count luminaries like Moses Sumney<\/a> as a fan. They\u2019re poised for a breakout with their forthcoming second album, Of Earth & Wires<\/em>, which features cameos from poet-musician Aja Monet, fellow Sudanese singer Gaidaa, and Bon Iver<\/a>, whose vocals adorn three tracks, including the standout \u201cFlood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album, which blends indie pop, noise rock, spoken-word poetry, gentle folk, and R&B, follows the same conceptual journey between two fictional lovers that Saleh introduced on their 2024 debut, I Should Call Them<\/em>. \u201cThose two lovers were just toxic young lovers \u2014 regular gay people \u2014 who don\u2019t know much about love, but know they\u2019re soulmates, and they survived the apocalypse that occurred in the first album\u2019s world,\u201d Saleh says. \u201cIn the second album, they\u2019ve survived, but they\u2019ve lost their loved ones. They\u2019ve survived chaos and calamity and now they\u2019re living in destitute ruin trying to make sense of themselves. They\u2019re trying to see what it\u2019s like to be a human being, but because AI technology took over their world, they lost their sense of self.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tDua Saleh is prone to answering straightforward questions (like \u201cWhat inspired this song?\u201d) with big-picture ideas and thoughts \u2014 about AI-induced capitalist dystopia, or the climate catastrophe, or an analysis of Lord of the Flies<\/em> through the lens of gender studies (their college major).<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking with Rolling Stone<\/em> this Spring, Saleh is nervous and frequently self-deprecating (\u201cI used to be toxic,\u201d they say at one point, before erupting into laughter). After they use the phrase \u201choly smokes\u201d for the second time, they pause. \u201cSorry,\u201d they say, \u201cI talk like a 1950s white boy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked how their latest record came to be, Saleh, wearing a Sudan soccer jersey, pauses and looks off-camera. \u201cI see Baby Yoda<\/a> staring at me,\u201d they say, before grabbing a Grogu plushie they proceed to hold for much of the remainder of the interview, \u201cso maybe I should start with the sci-fi concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBraden Lee<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBut as much as Saleh is inclined towards deep thinking, their latest record is, ultimately, a heartfelt reflection and meditation on grief, love, and roots.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m just talking about home, what home means to me,\u201d they say. \u201cBecause I\u2019m worried about our<\/em> home: Earth. I\u2019m not worried about the Earth imploding in on itself or anything crazy. I\u2019m worried about humanity not being able to sustain itself on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tAFTER BEING BORN in Sudan, Saleh landed up in the Twin Cities after a brief initial detour in Fargo (\u201clittle too conservative,\u201d they say of the North Dakota city). They took to writing at a young age, writing poems in class in middle school that were so dark \u2014 or, as Saleh puts it, \u201ctoo fire\u201d \u2014 that it got them reprimanded. Saleh doesn\u2019t get into detail about what they were struggling with at that time in their life, but points to the chorus from their new finger-picked ballad \u201cAnemic\u201d: \u201cMissed my dad,\u201d they sing on the song, \u201cFound out he\u2019s an asshole\/How \u2018bout that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a teenager growing up in St. Paul, Saleh soaked in the city\u2019s rich history of R&B, jazz, and hip-hop, and soon found themselves on the outskirts of the area\u2019s flourishing slam poetry scene. They started attending open mics as an observer before being encouraged to read their own work. Spoken-word poetry eventually led to music, which felt like a relief after the intensity of reciting their own poetry out loud.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to sing without the poetry,\u201d Saleh says, \u201cbecause I was so depressed from reliving my trauma through the poetry that I had to soothe myself with singing melodies and writing songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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