Rasha is a mononym of Rasha Sheikh Eldin (b. 1971, Khartoum, Sudan), who grew up in Sudan’s capital, where the Islamic Nubian and Black African musical worlds collide. She comes from a musical family, one of twenty children. Rasha emigrated to Spain a decade ago to escape the volatile civil war raging between Sudan’s Muslim population in the north and its Christian and animist population in the south. Spain is also the home of Rasha’s brother, Wafir, a member of the critically acclaimed Radio Tarifa.
It was in Spain that Rasha began work on the critically acclaimed album, “Sudaniyat” (named by Folk Roots editor Ian Anderson as “One of the 10 best of 1997”). This album brings together the diversity of Sudanese music, ranging from Arabic poetry, sufi music and even touches of reggae. The tone of this tender album is set primarily by the Oud and percussion, with backing guitar and bass that magnificently accentuate Rasha’s spectacular vocals. Thrown into the mix are violins, accordions and a Sudanese big band.
Lara Petersson Music 