Dua Saleh

• Nur (EP) [Against Giants EP, 2019] A-
• Rosetta [Against Giants, 2020] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Nur (EP) [Against Giants EP, 2019]
In which Saleh, a Twin Cities-based nonbinary Sudanese refugee with a sociology degree, hooks up with Psymun, a Twin Cities-based noise-ambient beatmaker with Future and Young Thug credits. Over five spooky, sexy, abstract, rapped-sung tracks, they prove either that they were made for each other or that the EP format was made for them, matching weirdness for weirdness for 21 minutes without ever getting too cute or abandoning what groove they have at their disposal. As arty types go, they're not only smart but gritty. Fess up--wouldn't you be impressed if Future made something fetching of a stanza that went "You still taste like Beverly Hills/Oh, how cavalier/I just learned the weather could kill/Allegedly"? A-

Rosetta [Against Giants, 2020]
I doubt this allusively sexual, explicitly nonbinary Sudanese-American poet-turned-siren would be as seductive without the wavery, toned soundbeds laid out by producer Psynum. Insofar as the lyrics parse, which they pretty much do, the objects of desire and speculative interest designated in these six songs tend female. But as both musical confabulations and imaginable human subjects, their erotic appeal is what I would call universal. Voila--trans eros for anyonewho cares to join in. B+