Pa Salieu teams up with Aitch on powerful new track ‘Bad’
The Coventry star has followed up last month's Afrikan Rebel EP
By Joe Goggins
Pa Salieu has unveiled the video for his latest single, ‘Bad’.
The track, which features a guest turn from Manchester rapper Aitch, is the first releasee from the BBC Sound of 2021 winner since his three-song ‘Afrikan Rebel’ EP arrived last month.
It continues a whirlwind year for the subversive hip-hop artist, who was nominated at August’s Ivor Novello awards for his debut mixtape, last November’s Send Them to Coventry.
Since dropping the tape after a COVID-related delay last year, the 24-year-old has gone on to make TV debuts on both sides of the Atlantic on ‘Later…with Jools Holland’ and ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’, collaborate with a host of high fashion houses from Dior to Givenchy, and even release his own hot sauce, which shares its name with his September EP.
‘Afrikan Rebel’ met with a slew of rave reviews last month, with special praise for the manner in which Salieu paid tribute to his Gambian heritage with the release.
Speaking to The Face about the EP, Salieu, who lived in the African country until the age of eight, said: “My mum, my grandma, they’re African rebels. I know my role in all of this. I am the pain, I am the hope of me and my siblings. I am the hope of my parents, the hope of my past.”
‘BAD’ is a dancehall-inflected rap banger with languid lyrical work from both Salieu and Aitch. You can stream the track here.
Salieu heads out on a seven-date headline tour of the UK next month, beginning at Bristol’s Thekla on November 22nd. All dates are sold out.