Dua Saleh is a Minneapolis-based Sudanese-American musician and actor who artfully blends poetry, alternative rap, and moody electronic music. With a distinctive vocal style wavering between warm melodic singing and nuanced rap grit, Saleh's first EP for the Against Giants label earned critical acclaim, setting the table for subsequent releases like 2020's Rosetta and 2021's guest-heavy Crossover. After landing a recurring role on Netflix's Sex Education, they signed with Ghostly International and released the 2024 album I SHOULD CALL THEM. Featuring guests ranging from Bon Iver to Gaidaa and Aja Monet, Of Earth & Wires followed in 2026. Born in Kassala, Sudan, and bearing Tunjur heritage, Saleh moved to the U.S. as a child, fleeing the Second Sudanese Civil War with their family and eventually settling outside of Minneapolis. Drawn to poetry at a young age, they also developed a strong affinity for community organizing, which manifested itself both in their material and activism. Active on the poetry open-mike scene since their teenage years, Saleh sought a more dynamic platform for their art and made their first foray into music with local producer Mike Frey on the 2017 track "First Take." This led to a collaboration with Minneapolis hip-hop producer Psymun, which resulted in Saleh's debut EP, Nūr. Released on the Against Giants label in 2019, the EP was a resounding critical success with a unique sound and compelling, socially conscious lyrics. Their follow-up EP, Rosetta, appeared in June 2020, followed a few months later by the single "Angel Rock." After the 2021 stand-alone singles "Signs" and "Dashery," Saleh returned to the EP format with Crossover, a highly collaborative set featuring guests like Duckwrth, Amaarae, and Haleek Maul. The prolific artist continued producing tracks over the next year like 2022's "I Belong to You" and "Chosen," the latter of which appeared on an expanded 2022 version of Crossover. Around this time, Saleh's acting career got a boost when they landed a recurring role on the Netflix series Sex Education. In late 2023, they signed with Ghostly International and released the single "Daylight Falls." Their first album for the label, I SHOULD CALL THEM, appeared the following year and included collaborations with serpentwithfeet and Sid Sriram. In 2026, they began the rollout for their sophomore LP with the Bon Iver collaborations "Flood" and "Glow." The full project, Of Earth & Wires, arrived that May and featured further collaborations with Aja Monet and Gaidaa. - Biography by Timothy Monger