Pa Salieu’s story has always been one of trying to move out of the darkness, and into the light. An artist whose work is framed by loss and redemption, his storytelling carries a rare sense of power, a palpable sense of intensity. Undaunted in his creativity and truly brave in the booth, his slim catalogue eschewed genre lines, drawing from drill, afrobeats, and beyond in a dazzling display of virtuosity. Pa’s return overnight – with new single ‘Belly’ – is something to celebrate.
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Much of the online discourse surrounding UK rap in the past 12 months has chosen to highlight its shortcomings – the lack of commercial punch, the streamlining of sounds and ideas, and the fall-off many artists have struggled with. For this writer, UK rap lost something when Pa Salieu was incarcerated – a spirit, an energy, a will to go against the grain… however you define it, something key was lost when that young artist lost his freedom.
For those new to Pa’s work, it’s worth a quick recap. His initial singles – such as the breakout anthem ‘Frontline’ – blended melodic openness with a ruffbeck tendency, fusing moments of beauty with rugged grit. ‘My Family’ saw Pa Salieu link with BackRoad Gee – a kindred spirit, the two made some absolute magic together in the studio.
Pa’s debut mixtape ‘Send Them To Coventry’ was his testament – prompted by a youth split between the Midlands and the Gambia, it spoke eloquently about poverty, discrimination, and the temptations of life on the road. There was a redemptive spirit, though – speaking openly of loss, Pa Salieu was learning to turn his face towards the sun.
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The loss at the centre of all this was palpable. In September 2018, Fidel Glasgow – a close friend of Pa’s – was fatally stabbed near a nightclub in their home city. Pa and his friends gave pursuit, and another man was attacked. Pa Salieu admitted to hitting the man with a tree branch, and possessing a broken bottle to defend himself.
The case was an open wound in his life. Both victim and aggressor, his efforts to make good, to progress his life in a positive fashion were framed by the case. When the Commonwealth Games came to town in 2022, Pa Salieu was initially booked to play the high-profile closing ceremony – before being dropped after a background check.
At the time, he said: “I’ve consistently been trying to use my career to show people where I’m from there is another life for us. But what can you do if the police, justice system and Home Office don’t care about you and put everything possible in your way to stop you trying to get on with your life?”
Ultimately, Pa Salieu was sentenced to 33 months in prison, a sentence that severed his career. For all Pa’s close links to the Gambia – and the manner in which his style interpolates trans-Atlantic production styles – it felt like a uniquely British tragedy: a young Black man with obvious and evident talents who wasn’t given secure support structures, who saw the temptations of road life, and who was left to pay the cost.
For all those reasons and more, Pa Salieu’s story deserves a happy ending. His release earlier this week was a poignant moment of reconnection, and new single ‘Belly’ picks up where he left off – playful and infectious, it boasts that missing ingredient only Pa Salieu can provide.
The neck-snapping beat is one thing, but the synth uplift and elasticity of the bass displays a musicality Pa Salieu has long since made his own. There’s a sense, too, of owning his story, shaping his own narrative – he’s found a way to blend the darkness with the light. It’s no surprise that on this tender, absorbing, poetic return, he opens: “I’ve been gone for a while but I’ll still make it back to you…”
Moving from night into day, Pa Salieu’s story deserves a different chapter – UK music is all the richer for his return.
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Words: Robin Murray
Photographer credit: Aliyah OTCHERE
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