Sure, you could call Dua Saleh’s debut LP I SHOULD CALL THEM an “R&B album,” but as they set out to work on this personal and provocative collection of songs, they quickly discovered “the limit does not exist” when it comes to art and genre.
In fact, “the limit does not exist” is a mantra you could apply to the rising musician-actor’s entire career.
Born in Sudan, Saleh’s family became refugees in the ’90s during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and eventually wound up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even at a young age, they took an interest in community organizing, and began to see how the arts could be a source of inspiration and a conduit for change.
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While double-majoring at Augsburg University in sociology and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, they began recording and releasing music, which quickly found a following on the internet, far beyond Saleh’s Midwestern home. Distinctly queer and dabbling in different genres, their music was made to speak directly to the LGBTQ+ community, wherever they might be in the world.
Then Saleh joined Sex Education, Netflix‘s hit coming-of-age comedy, in its third season, bringing them to a whole new level of notoriety. As fan favorite character Cal Bowman, they brought all-too-rare representation for Black trans-nonbinary representation to TV screens all around the globe.
With more eyes—and ears—on them than ever, Saleh was keen on pushing their art in bold new directions for their first proper album, I SHOULD CALL THEM, which experiments with R&B, pop, black metal, and more to tels a stirring tale of radical love in the face of an impending environmental apocalypse and technological takeover… sound familiar?
Ahead of the album’s release on October 11, we invited Dua Saleh into the hot seat for our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our conversation, they touch on the anime series that first showed them non-normative gender identity on TV, how art helped them tell the story of I SHOULD CALL THEM, and the real-life romance that inspired one of the album’s most sultry songs.
Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, theater, video game, etc…—that has played an important role in your understanding of queerness and the queer community? Why does it stand out to you?
Probably Ouron High School Host Club! It was the first time that I saw a character that had a non normative gender identity. It’s also important because it was ahead of its time socially, even for an animated show.
You’ve been releasing music for years now, but this fall’s I SHOULD CALL THEM is your debut full-length album, which you’ve described as both a “quest” and an “odyssey-like experience.” What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in your own personal quest to bring the album together?
Discovering that there are an infinite number of ways that an artist can approach the art of R&B. I already knew there was a lot of depth and complexity to the genre because of how I listened to it during childhood (and even now), but we really took a route that deconstructed and reinspected the genre from inside of its boundaries. I’ve discovered that the limit does not exist!
And the album art is stunning—who is the artist behind it, and what does the art represent to you?
Michael Cina! He was able to hone in on the emotions that were present for me through the lyrical storytelling and also grasp onto my sociocultural critiques (concepts of environmental destruction, technological proliferation, and more) as a visual terrain for this LP.
Can you share a story or something in particular that inspired one of the songs on the album?
“2excited” was a song that was inspired by the height of one of my only relationships. It highlighted the sultry, sweet, and impassioned nature of our experiences of love. The mixture of contemporary R&B, modern jazz, and Black Metal sounds are extremely impactful. It showcased our experiences meeting, the importance of experimenting in the bedroom, and the Romeo & Juliet type of relationship that we had for each other throughout our time as lovers and best friends.
Where’s one of the first spaces you can remember that made you feel a part of a queer community?
Probably the LGBTQ+ center I worked at in University! That was the first time I was introduced to people who used neopronouns like myself (xe/xem, they/them)
Is there a certain artist or album that always feels like “home” to you?
Beyoncé’s Lemonade because I was able to experience it live. She came to the city I was in two weeks after she released the LP! I definitely felt the emotions rushing through me and cried several times.
We were huge fans of Sex Education and loved your performance on that series. What’s something you’d say you learned from Cal Bowman?
Cal was supposed to be in a band at one point. That would have been exciting! I guess we would have had music in common haha 🙂
Who is a queer or trans artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?
Kehlani. They speak on a lot of issues that matter to young people and all people in the world. I hope we can be inspired by them.
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