Dua Saleh's 'ROSETTA' EP Is an Emotional and Poetic Journey

Minneapolis-based singer and rapper Dua Saleh released a moving new single titled “body cast” tackling police brutality and injustice following the murder of George Floyd in their hometown the week prior. Now the rising artist returns with the new ROSETTA EP featuring six new tracks. The title was inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known as the Godmother of rock and roll.

ROSETTA follows Dua’s 2019 debut project Nūr and features executive production by fellow Minneapolis-based artist Psymun. The EP is full of diverse soundscapes with hypnotizing synths and guitars for emotionally resonant trips through Dua’s candid memories. On “smut,” Dua sings in Arabic for the first time on record. A recent press release went into details on the parallels Dua found between their life and Tharpe’s.

“Like Dua, Sister Rosetta Tharpe wasn’t afraid of violating taboos or religious dogma. Tharpe wowed both churches and juke joints with distorted guitar stylings and a flamboyant stage presence. And though [Tharpe] was married several times, she was known to have had romantic relationships with women. Dua draws a parallel to Tharpe with their own biography of growing up queer in a strict Muslim household.”

In a recent interview with i-D, Dua detailed their efforts to best represent their native Sudan, which they had to flee during the country’s civil war. “In Sudan, there’s a lot of queer, trans and non-binary people who are closeted, so I try to put out as much content that’s like, the gay and trans agenda, as possible! I feel like a lot of my fanbase is really knowledgeable in queer theory because they don’t have access to actual communities, so they dive into it intellectually.”

Stream ROSETTA below. In more music updates Gunna joined HYPEBEAST for the new feature “Gunna Escaped to Jamaica, Flexed His Inner Gemini and Found Clarity.”