Sinkane / Bassel & the Supernaturals

Sinkane is an artist with a real stake in our current cultural and political climate. Born in London to Sudanese parents, raised in Ohio, and living in New York City, Ahmed Gallab—a former skate punk turned Afro-funk whiz—refines his sound and message on his seventh studio album, Dépaysé, scheduled for release on May 31.

The album’s French title means “to be removed from one’s habitual surroundings.” The album's anthemic first single, “Everybody,” was recently made into a video, directed by Bruno Ferreira. Filmed at Brazil’s world renowned samba school in Rio de Janeiro, Escola de Samba Paraíso do Tuiuti, it stars local performers and is a testimony to the power of passion and dancing to overcome repression. Gallab says “Everybody” is “dedicated to the brave men, women, and children fighting against oppression in places like Brazil, Sudan, and all over the world.”

Dépaysé is the follow-up to Sinkane’s acclaimed 2017 album Life & Livin’ It, which earned the band its national television debut on Conan, an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, and worldwide acclaim from outlets such as Pitchfork, the Guardian, New York Magazine, Vulture, and the Washington Post, among many others.

Bassel & the Supernaturals combines soul and funk with captivating lyrics about love, loss, and a war in Syria that has affected Bassel Almadani’s family along with ten million others.

The soulful Syrian-American vocalist and his ensemble donate over 20 percent of their merchandise proceeds to humanitarian relief through the Karam Foundation, including $3,000 from the preorder campaign for their full-length album, Elements (2017). Their latest album—drawing inspiration from artists such as Snarky Puppy, Jamiroquai, and Steely Dan's Aja—was premiered by Noisey, which led to their involvement in the nationally acclaimed SXSW 2017 showcase ContraBanned: #MusicUnites, featuring artists from the diaspora of countries targeted by the travel ban. They've since been featured on PRI, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Paste Magazine, Huffington Post, NowThis, and many others. 

Almadani coproduced the multigenre humanitarian tour Amplify Peace, in collaboration with several other Arab-American artists from predominantly Muslim countries impacted by war. Highlights from their debut tour in October 2017 included performances at the John F. Kennedy Center, the Arab American National Museum, and a feature by the Associated Press. 

Averaging over 60 tour dates per year across the U.S. and Canada with internationally touring artists such as Youssou N'Dour, Brother Ali, Aesop Rock, Emancipator, the Dandy Warhols, Sinkane, and many others, Bassel & the Supernaturals is preparing to release another full-length album, Smoke & Mirrors (2019).