I first became aware of Emmanuel Jal’s story when I saw War Child, the film based on his life, at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. As a former child-soldier-turned-MC who grew up in civil war-torn Sudan, Jal was eventually rescued and able to start a new life, making it a mission to tell his story and raise awareness through music.

Although he wasn’t present at the screening I initially attended, Jal’s strength and sadness were emitted through the screen, forcing me to become emotionally attached to his story. Naturally, when I discovered that he was booked to speak and perform at NYU’s Kimmel Center two months ago, I made it a priority to attend. As expected, hearing him explain the details of his experiences face-to-face felt like nutrition for my soul, and after photographing him speaking and performing, I even had the privilege of asking him a question during the Q&A (more on that another time!)…

Like Emmanuel Jal, “rapper” Bangs is also Sudanese. He, on the other hand, has chosen to go quite a different route. Ladies: if you haven’t seen his video yet, Bangs wants to take us to the movies. He’ll even buy us popcorn…

If you’re not hip to the viral world, you may not know that Bangs’ “Take U To Da Movies” video has been an online phenomenon- flying through the internets and landing on many music and culture blogs out there. Not to (further) pick on Bangs, but his video hasn’t received so many online “spins” because he’s especially innovated and talented, it’s received them because people are laughing at him. Just think: it’s a cultural-disconnect train wreck… horrifying and captivating all at the same time. What’s most disconcerting is that Bangs doesn’t even realize he’s the butt of the joke; when the guys at Shade 45 had him as a guest on the All Out Show, poor Bangs had no idea he was being patronized by fake callers phoning-in to tear him apart. The linguistic tragedy that he represents is one that deserves exploring- both to juxtapose with the painful triumph of people like Jal, and to also raise the mirror to our own faces (I’M TALKING TO YOU, RAP FANS). Just look at what Bangs is glorifying?!?

Cars.                                                                               Money.

Jewelry.                                                                 Multiplying. (JK!)

His castle, the movie theater.

And while I’m all for people repping their nationality, the map of Sudan feels a little bit out of place in the video, no?:

Just saying.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Jal just finished skipping breakfast and lunch for a year to help raise funds for his charity, Gua Africa.

He told us the story about “waiting for aid drop from the sky” - he’s talking about rain.

To be clear, I don’t want to cast judgement here… Bangs can rap about whatever the eff he wants. Music comes in many packages, and I’m sure a lot of people could argue that Emmanuel Jal’s tracks aren’t particularly spectacular (by top MC standards) either. I’m also certain that their backgrounds are extremely different since Bangs now lives in Australia and didn’t grow up murdering his enemies and eating his dead friends for food. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Jal has a body count that he carries around, trying to come to grips with- his close encounters with extreme violence forcing him to be highly-critical of American hip hop’s portrayal of gang culture (as he directly addressed in his song “50 Cent”):

“The ‘50 Cent’ song is kind of like I wanted to call up 50 Cent and just say ‘Who are you?!’ Because you see, my cousin in the U.K., they’re in a little group, they’re calling themselves G-Unit. So they go on the street and beat people up. But when they went to school they stabbed a white boy. 50 Cent is big, he’s huge, he’s like a God, no? I [told my producer I wanted] us to write a song whereby we appreciate his work but at the same time we have to tell him ‘this is the problem.’ So if I speak to him through the music he’s gonna hear it. But the whole song is not meant for him.” -Emmanuel Jal, Rolling Stone

In a recent interview with Aussie outlet 9 News, Bangs said he thinks his music is uplifting for the Sudanese community in Melbourne, which has apparently garnered some not-so-good press lately due to violent incidents. Hey- maybe he is a positive influence! I guess I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that even though they come from the same battered nation, their messages have landed on opposite ends of the hip hop spectrum. Rap and hip hop, ying and yang. Whether or not these guys are even aware of the other’s existence (Bangs is from Sudan’s Muslim North, while EJ is from the Christian South, now living mainly in London), I find it interesting that Bangs doesn’t grasp the irony he embodies by embracing the most foolish of our Western hip hop imagery. My guess is that he probably doesn’t know any better, and we have ourselves to thank for that (*pats back and puts on goon rap*).

More photos from Emmanuel Jal’s NYU performance can be found here.