Dua Saleh dishes on ‘Sex Education,’ Romeo & Juliet-like romance & why “the limit does not exist” for R&B
I SHOULD CALL THEM an “R&B album,” but as they set out to work on this personal and provocative collection of songs, they quickly discovered “the limit does not exist” when it comes to art and genre.In fact, “the limit does not exist” is a mantra you could apply to the rising musician-actor’s entire career.Born in Sudan, Saleh’s family became refugees in the ’90s during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and eventually wound up in St.
Paul, Minnesota. Even at a young age, they took an interest in community organizing, and began to see how the arts could be a source of inspiration and a conduit for change.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.While double-majoring at Augsburg University in sociology and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, they began recording and releasing music, which quickly found a following on the internet, far beyond Saleh’s Midwestern home.
Distinctly queer and dabbling in different genres, their music was made to speak directly to the LGBTQ+ community, wherever they might be in the world.Then Saleh joined Sex Education, Netflix‘s hit coming-of-age comedy, in its third season, bringing them to a whole new level of notoriety.
As fan favorite character Cal Bowman, they brought all-too-rare representation for Black trans-nonbinary representation to TV screens all around the globe.With more eyes—and ears—on them than ever, Saleh was keen on pushing their art in bold new directions for their first proper album, I SHOULD CALL THEM, which experiments with R&B, pop, black metal, and more to tels a stirring tale of radical love in the face of an impending environmental apocalypse and technological takeover… sound familiar?Ahead of the album’s release on October 11, we invited Dua Saleh into the hot seat for our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It.
