Rapper Blak-Ram narrates his life story and Sudan’s pain through music

Ramadan is a bittersweet month for 34-year-old Sudanese rapper Blak-Ram because it always brings up painful memories of his father.

At the end of Ramadan in 1990, his father, military officer Akram Elfatih Youssif, was executed along with 27 other officers after a failed coup attempt against former President Omar Al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir seized power from Sudan’s democratically elected government in June 1989 and held onto it for 30 years, before being deposed in 2019.

Following the failed coup attempt, Youssif and other military officers were tried in a mock court and executed by a firing squad and then pushed into a mass grave.

Blak-Ram’s mother was pregnant with him at the time. He was born in Wad Medani in Sudan and moved to southwest England with his mother as a baby.

Ramadan is not only a painful reminder of his father's horrific death but also in recent years a time of new waves of violence in Sudan.

For example, on June 3, 2019 - the 29th of Ramadan - over 120 Sudanese civilians were massacred by the interim government's security forces while conducting a peaceful sit-in, in what is now known as the Khartoum Massacre.

And it was at the end of Ramadan when the current civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began, in April 2023. "In Sudan, violence always seems to happen in Ramadan," Blak-Ram told TRT World in a recent interview.

The artist, who prefers to use this stage name, recalled that he was spending Ramadan in Sudan when the Khartoum Massacre occurred. It happened the day after his family’s annual iftar event in remembrance of his father and the other executed officers, which all 28 families take part in.

"At my grandma's house, my aunt came to me and woke me up, saying, 'They (the RSF) have dispersed the sit-in.' I didn't realise to what extent it was or how brutal it was. We thought they had only shot civilians, but we weren't aware of the burning, the sexual violence, the torture. The nature of the crimes was horrific. People were being thrown into the Nile.”

Quest for justice

For 30 years, Blak-Ram and the families of the murdered officers have been on a quest for justice, campaigning to have Omar Al-Bashir and military personnel held to account. Sudan's 2018 revolution was a stepping-stone for Blak-Ram and the officers' families.

That same year, the Criminal Investigation Bureau finally opened a criminal case at the Department of Justice, and those who were indicted were arrested and jailed pending trial.

In 2020, a mass grave was discovered holding what was believed to be the officers' remains. Blak-Ram and his family were called to give DNA samples. However, since the civil war began in April 2023, the case has been brought to a standstill, the rapper said.

He added, "Since the war, we don’t know if the Janjaweed or the militia have destroyed the case files, as they've destroyed a lot of government and police buildings. A lot of the people involved (in the executions) have been released from prison. Prior to the war, we had been really gathering momentum and everything looked like it was heading in the right direction.

"Right now, our priority is just the security of the country. What's going to happen next in Sudan we don't know; whether the army will take back control or whether it will be certain Islamist factions that may have some sway or power."

The current war in Sudan between military groups has displaced over 8 million people. Some six million are internally displaced within Sudan itself, and almost two million have fled to neighbouring countries.

As of January 2024, around 13,000 people are believed to have been killed in the conflict, with daily reports by Sudanese civilians of kidnappings, torture, looting and rape by the RSF, which is now a paramilitary group that battles government forces.

Some 25 million people are on the brink of famine; the World Food Programme has called it the world’s largest hunger crisis. Blak-Ram worries about the members of his family who have not been able to evacuate from the country.

"I have an uncle in the heart of the conflict zone, in RSF territory, who was unable to evacuate because he's an amputee and diabetic and has an attachment to our family home," he said, adding that a communications blackout makes it hard to reach his uncle and other relatives.

"Many of my family members who I was in regular contact with have evacuated to Egypt and the Gulf. They spent a long time stranded in Port Sudan waiting for their visas."

Hidden talent

Blak-Ram said he remembers spending a lot of his teenage years dreaming about avenging his father and the other officers. And he still wonders how life would have been different if his mother had never left Sudan with him as a one-year-old.

But he soon came to realise that he had a talent for rap and lyric-writing, and through rap he discovered a productive and creative platform that he could use to not only tell his life story, but the story of modern Sudan.

The rapper's moniker is both a play on the first name of his father Akram, and also comes from seeing himself as a black sheep back when he was a rebellious teenager.

Blak-Ram usually performs and is photographed in a Black Panther superhero mask, which he said represents revolution and the spirit of pan-Africanism. He added that the persona is like his alter-ego and he sees parallels between himself and comic superheroes who have lost a parent.

Blak-Ram began his musical career in late 2010, but it was only when Sudan had its revolution in 2018 that his lyrics took a political turn.

"The revolution was a catalyst. I'm speaking out against what's going on from the UK and using my music as a platform. The thing I’m best at is writing music. It allows me to carefully plan what I'm going to say, so I can express myself in more depth."

The artist added that his music evolved from talking about his story and the revolution to what's happening in present-day Sudan.

In 2019, Blak-Ram released his five-track EP, Make Sudan Great Again, a musical narrative of Sudan’s 2018 revolution.

Each track details the Sudanese people's trials and tribulations, from the beginning of the uprising to its aftermath, as well as hope for the future and healing from the trauma and pain. He said he plans to release a full album later this year.

While working on the album, Blak-Ram said at one point his family and friends in Sudan were feeling a renewed sense of hope and encouraged him to write lyrics about Sudan’s future – about elections, a new leader and Sudan being rebuilt.

But he said their hopes were sadly premature, as soon after these conversations the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF broke out.

Amid the current war, Blak-Ram’s album went in a new direction.

"I had to add some more tracks to illustrate the narrative of what's happening," he explained. With that came his new single, No More Tears (Sudan), which he released earlier this month.

"No More Tears is a heartfelt and emotional song. It talks about the losses we have endured as Sudanese people and mentions certain foreign actors' roles in the war, as well as how our institutions have been destroyed and robbed. It goes into how everybody is suffering from the lack of food and famine, and the violence that the RSF has put on the Sudanese people, whether it's rape or torture or destruction of critical infrastructure or the agriculture and certain heritage sites," the artist said.

The song also mentions atrocities in Darfur. The western state has a long history of conflict between militia groups and the Sudanese government, with the largest war of 2003-2005 resulting in the deaths of 181,00 people. Darfur has not been spared in the current war; the RSF carried out a wave of mass ethnic cleansing there in November 2023, with the death toll estimated at 1,300 to 2000 civilians.

"Darfur was neglected for a long time and people only seemed to care after the war and during the revolution. Sudanese people didn’t really talk about Darfur while it was happening in the 2000’s," Blak-Ram said.

"We can’t be free until everyone in Sudan is free."