Pa Salieu is – purely and simply – one of the best rap talents in the UK right now. An artist who is able to illuminate spaces not normally viewed in the mainstream, his work carries a sense of heft, an emotional weight that his peers often lack. With a punk-like disregard for sonic norms, he fuses aspects of his Gambian heritage with UK system culture, meshing together genres to create something unruly, and addictive.
His path hasn’t been easy, however. Like many young men from his background, Pa explored different routes – some of which took him into dark spaces. A 2018 brawl resulted in the death of a close friend, and the court case surrounding this has led to noxious headlines for the rapper.
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Once a young Black male in this country attracts the gaze of authority, it can be hard to escape it. The Commonwealth Games might be situated in Birmingham this summer, but one Midlands export won’t be involved – despite spending time rehearsing for a slot in the closing ceremony of the Games, Pa Salieu has been removed from the line-up.
It must be a tough blow for the Coventry artist. Writing online, Pa Salieu says he “failed a background check”, adding: “I can’t keep being silent about this stuff. I’ve already had to cancel 90% of my shows this year because the Home Office won’t process the paperwork I need to travel abroad until my court case is finished.”
His treatment feels cruel, and unnecessary. Like an increasing amount of young people born to immigrant communities, Pa Salieu is facing difficult decision. Unable to play Gambia – the country he was born in – for most of his career due to red tape, 2021 closed with Pa touching down on West African soil for a heroic, celebratory performance. But it’s taken him a long, long time to get there.
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Pa Salieu’s career is one of illuminating darkness, using a vastly personal sense of loss to drive him further and further. Yes, he is engaged in the court process – but he’s doing this in a cooperative fashion. Pa was cleared of an initial charge, and admitted his actions on that fateful day in 2018.
In the note, he writes: “I have fully co-operated with the process. Attended court on time every single day. The trial ended in March, but they keep just moving the final sentencing date which was due to be in May. Most recently the date moved because the ‘prosecutor has gone on holiday’.”
He continued: “I’ve consistently been trying to use my career to show people where I’m from that there is another life for us. One away from the roads. But what can you do if the police, the justice system and the home office don’t care about you and put everything possible in your way to stop you trying to get on with your life?”
It feels perverse to continually punish Pa Salieu when he is trying to move beyond the trauma of his past, and act as a beacon for young people from similar backgrounds. It’s far from the first time authorities have impinged on his career – writing in October 2021, Pa said he had been cut out of City of Culture activities in Coventry, cancelling a headline show in his hometown due to “reasons beyond my control”.
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In his latest note, the rapper sounds at the end of his tether with the processes, which seem to mimic the opaque, frustrating, and often unjust language of the UK’s own immigration procedures. As he puts it: “Next week’s performance should have been a celebration. What is the real reason here?? How can you fail a ‘background check’ to perform at a closing ceremony. What does that even mean?”
There’s a cruel irony to Pa Salieu being cut out of the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony – after all, the Commonwealth as a concept is highly questionable, a slanted ‘family of nations’ with often dark undertones to those relationships. His performance could be a means to look to the future, and embrace aspects of UK culture that are in a state of creative flux. Instead, we’re left with yet more evidence of the everyday bigotries that artists of colour are still facing in this country.
We’ll leave you with some of Pa’s own inspirational words: “Remain strong because you pushing every day. The game is the game but you learning how to play. You are free because you moving how you say so. No hesitations. Don’t hesitate.”
Internal Photography: Vicky Grout
Words: Robin Murray
