Scattered by Sudan’s war, Aswat Almadina hope their music can inspire peace
One of Sudan’s most popular bands, Aswat Almadina, says it is clinging to the hope that its music can inspire peace as the country’s war grinds on. The musicians recall being in the studio when fighting erupted in 2023; within weeks, the group was forced to scatter.
Timon — a founding member whose real name is Mohammed Almustafa — was among six bandmates who left Sudan two months after the conflict began. He described seeing dead bodies, destroyed buildings and burnt-out cars on the streets of Khartoum. “It was like something out of a zombie movie,” he said in a podcast interview.
More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Formed in 2014, Aswat Almadina — Arabic for Sounds of the City — blends Middle Eastern folk with urban pop and vibrant jazz, drawing on Khartoum’s energy for its distinctive sound.
“We called ourselves ‘Sounds of the City’ as Khartoum is our inspiration,” Timon said. “Our music comes from the atmosphere in Khartoum, the natural sounds of the city, the sounds of the people, the sounds of the streets.” The band built a devoted following, especially among young Sudanese, and became the first Sudanese band to tour the country.
Their lyrics address social justice, corruption and the everyday struggles of young people, earning the group recognition as UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors in 2017. For co-founder and lead vocalist Ibrahem Mahmoud, music was inseparable from activism. Before the uprising that led to the ousting of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019, he says he was repeatedly detained for songs critical of the political system.
“I got arrested a lot by national security because of what I was doing — singing the truth. Thank God I’m still alive,” he said. The unrest began in December 2018, when austerity measures were introduced to address a deepening economic crisis. Cuts to bread and fuel subsidies triggered protests that spread from the east to the capital, evolving into nationwide calls for Bashir’s removal after three decades in power.
Music became a defining feature of the uprising, with Aswat Almadina’s lyrics chanted in the streets. Ibrahem now lives in the Saudi city of Jeddah, after several years in Nairobi, but says life in exile remains uncertain. From different corners of the world, the members hold to the idea that the sounds of their once-peaceful home — a city of more than seven million — can still carry a message of hope.