Abdu Ali is a Black multidisciplinary musician, community activist, poet and artist based in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In 2019, Baltimore City Major Jack Young's Office and the LGBTQ Commission honored Ali with the Artist of the Year Award. They released their first album ''FIYAH!!'' in 2019.

Musical style

Their musical style has been described as fervent

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

with a futuristic

punk rap Punk rap is hip hop music influenced by the rebellious ethos, and sometimes musical characteristics, of punk rock. The genre has been described as being influenced by styles such as trap music, punk rock, heavy metal and lo-fi music. One o ...

poetry while also weaving

noise punk Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extreme ...

to avant-garde rap. Their work is inspired by Baltimore Club legend and black queer icon Miss Tony. Ali's lyrics and poetry are influenced by

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

, Wallace Thurmon, and Richard Nugent. ''The FADER'' described their single "Chastity" as "an unconventional, and daring call for self-love and acceptance".

Projects

Ali has been involved in various projects including Kahlon, an experimental music and art event in Baltimore that hosted notable acts including

Juliana Huxtable Juliana Huxtable (born December 29, 1987) is an American artist, writer, performer, DJ, and co-founder of the New York-based nightlife project Shock Value. Huxtable has exhibited and performed at a number of venues including Reena Spaulings Fine ...

, Princess Nokia and others that lasted from 2014-2017. In 2017 they created drumBOOTY, a podcast for black creativity and social dialogue. They are also the founder of As They Lay, which Ali states as a "creative protect-based organism" that brings black artists together for events, programs and dialogues.

Personal Life

Ali is non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''FIYAH!!'' (2019)

Guest appearances

References

External links

* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) African-American musicians Musicians from Baltimore American non-binary musicians American non-binary writers American non-binary artists Non-binary activists LGBT people from Maryland 21st-century African-American artists 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century African-American musicians {{US-musician-stub