“Wad Al-Zein”… renewal of the Sudanese song

Sudan Events – Maysoon Abdel Hamid

The listening session for the young artist Wad Al-Zein, which was organized by the Union of Sudanese Artists in Egypt last Monday at its headquarters on Mohamed Farid Street and was moderated by the musician Al-Safi Mahdi, raised a lot of discussion and questions about the intellectual and aesthetic project of the artist Wad Al-Din, who adopted a project to renew the Sudanese song through “Reggae” music.
It is noteworthy that “Reggae” music includes various styles of popular music, especially music related to dancing. “Reggae” music in general expresses social events, especially political ones. It is also characterized by heavy rhythms, and one of its most famous pioneers of all is the international artist Bob Marley.
“Wad Al-Zein” appeared in that dialogue session wearing Bob Marley’s famous hat and introduced himself with knowledgeable humility, and began to sing with a high presence in the performance, similar to immersing himself in the religious sessions. He enters the song, soul and body, as he sings and plays the bass guitar, and talks about his intellectual and aesthetic project at the same time.
In one session, the young man presented eight different works between praise and local and international singing, out of 18 works that he produced at close intervals, as he was born in the early 2000s.
It is noteworthy that Muhammad Ali Al-Zein, “Wad Al-Zein,” took up singing and music early when he was eleven years old. He is the son of the great musician and artist Ali Al-Zein, owner of the Ali Al-Zein Cultural Center for Teaching Music in the city of Bahri.

Musician Al-Safi Mahdi says that Wad Al-Zein’s upbringing in an environment with a great musical heritage is what paved the way for the emergence of this major project by the artist, “Wad Al-Zein.” Wad Al-Zein enjoyed listening and interacting with major Sudanese musicians and writers, especially with regard to modernizing the Sudanese song, such as the musician and dramatist Mahmoud Maysara Al-Sarraj, and the writer, poet and dramatist Adel Ibrahim Muhammad Khair, in addition to his presence at the Ali Al-Zein Center, where “Wad Al-Zein” was able to play more than one musical instrument in addition to the guitar.
Wad Al-Zein says that he first began thinking about presenting the Sudanese audible song in a new artistic form, adopting Al-Raiqi music as an international musical technique and pairing this rhythm with the diverse and popular Sudanese song. Here he presented a singing model for a famous praise with the “Reggae” rhythm “Ahmed Ya Habibi”, and then he presented another model for a song that includes the rhythm of the story. He also presented other models that work on the philosophy of “Reggae” in its militant form, which is addressing the military in a clear and frank dialogue through the “Land of Arms” model and adopting a peace discourse.
The session was accompanied by an open dialogue by the attendees about updating the Sudanese song and about “Reggae” music in general.