From a lost boy to world renowned hip hop artist

BY LOUISE UMUTONI IN CANADA

At the age of 9 racing across minefields with an AK-47 taller than him, Emmanuel Jal would never have believed he would be where he is. Born and raised in war torn Sudan, he wasn’t given the opportunity to grow up, with a father who left the family to join ASPLA a rebel group and a mother who was left to fend for a family of 5 with one more on the way all by her self. And that’s not all the other half of his childhood was spent dodging bullets on the battlefield as a child warrior. After he had been through the most atrocious things ever imaginable Jal was rescued by an “angle”, as Jal likes to refer to her, Emma McCune the legendary British aid worker, married to a Sudanese war lord who smuggled him to Kenya. And that’s when Jal’s life began to make an uphill climb. Call it luck if you like but I was able to attend Emmanuel Jal’s book review in Ottawa for his book War Child, his memoir. “I wrote this book because I wanted to reach out to people who can relate with what happened to me as well as those that can help,” Jal said. Particularly Jal claims he wants to tell the world his story in an effort to promote his campaign to save child soldiers. “I am eating one meal a day in order to save up some money to help my people in Sudan,” he adds. Writing one’s memoir may sound simple but ask Jal and you will know that is not the case. He says it was one of the most difficult things he ever did. “I couldn’t sleep for days and I kept hearing gunshots, bombs…the smell of decaying flesh couldn’t leave me,”Jal narrated. But up there on stage he composes himself and tells his story with ease and even throws in a few jokes here and there as he re-lives the very few good memories of his childhood. The memories are so bad that Jal still can’t read his memoir. However, this is not all there’s of Jal. The 29 year old will stop at nothing to get his message across. Emmanuel Jal is a renowned hip hop artist. His unique style of hip hop with its message of peace and reconciliation born out of his experiences as a child soldier in Sudan, has won him worldwide acclaim. His music can be heard alongside big names like Coldplay, Gorillaz, and Radiohead on the fundraising ‘Warchild - Help a Day in the Life’ album. It can also be heard in three ER episodes, the National Geographic documentary God Grew Tired of Us. His music can also be heard in the background the of a feature film ‘Blood Diamonds’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He also featured on John Lennons’ ‘Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur’ amongst the likes of U2, REM and Lenny Kravitz. “For me, music was a kind of medicine. Whenever I sang I felt all the pain go away,” Jal explained. His first hit Gua, meaning ‘peace’ in his native nuer tongue was broadcast across Africa on BBC and was a number one hit in Kenya. When asked if his music had achieved the purpose he sought, Jal explained that for now it was more than he could ask for, because his intention is to get the attention of the outside world. To get them to realize that there was actually a person out there that needed to be rescued. “Emma McCune rescued me and gave me another shot at life. Someone else out there needs the same opportunity,” Jal says. It’s no wonder he sings about McCune with a lot of love and respect in his song to her and says he wants to be just like her. He performed at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in Hyde Park, London, June 08. He shared the stage with Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox, Damien Marley and Stephen Marley at the Black Ball in London in July 08 and also addressed delegates at the UN in New York in the same month. Jal has also performed with Razorlight, Supergrass, and Faithless in Europe. And when asked if he would like to sing in his country, he pointed out that there he wouldn’t get such a huge response to his music. He adds that he would rather use the huge response from outside to help his people. He plans to open a school there under the Gua project. “I believe that education is the key. If you are educated then you are free and I believe that I can free my nation through education,” he explains. He goes on to say that the solution to problems in Africa is education. That if people stopped using guns but their brain then that definitely would make a difference. Emmanuel Jal’s story is one to inspire Africans from war torn countries and give them hope that tomorrow will be a better day. But also it is for the person out there who can make this happen, a person who in just a flash can change one’s life, save a soul. And this is what Jal is embarking on, the journey to touch souls that will touch other souls in an even greater way. Good luck with that brother.