Omar Musa
| Omar bin Musa | |
|---|---|
 Omar bin Musa live at Jaipur, India in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Omar bin Musa |
| Born |
9 January 1984 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, AUS |
| Genres | Hip Hop, jazz poetry, spoken word, jazz-funk, proto-rap |
| Occupations | Poet, singer, songwriter, author |
| Instruments | Vocals, |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Website | http://omarbinmusa.blogspot.com |
Omar bin Musa (born 9 January 1984) is a poet and rapper from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He won the Australian Poetry Slam in 2008 and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2009. He has released two solo hip hop records (The Massive EP and World Goes to Pieces), two self-published books (The Clocks and Parang) and a self-titled album with international hip hop group MoneyKat. He is set to publish his debut novel "Here Come the Dogs" through Penguin Books (Australia) in 2012/2013.
Omar Musa is best known for his political hip hop lyrics and his poems My Generation, Fireflies and CAPITAL LETTERS.
Early Life
Musa is the son of Australian arts journalist Helen Musa and Malaysian poet Musa bin Masran. He studied at the Australian National University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Career
Musa has combined hip hop music and poetry throughout his career. He was runner up in the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam, before winning in 2009 at the Sydney Opera House. He went on to win the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2010. In 2010 he also did support for Gil Scott-Heron in Munich, Germany. In 2011 he was a guest panellist on ABC's Q & A. In 2013 he received a standing ovation at TEDxSydney at the Sydney Opera House.
He has been a guest at numerous international writers festivals, including Jaipur Literary Festival in India and the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival in Indonesia, as well as touring extensively in Asia, Europe and Australia.
He has collaborated with numerous musicians and hip hop artists, including Akala, Soweto Kinch, Impossible Odds, The Last Kinection, Hau from Koolism, Candice Monique, The Tongue, Lotek and Geoff Stanfield.
He is writing his debut novel "Here Come the Dogs", to be released by Penguin Books (Australia) in 2012/2013.
Style and Critical Reception
Musa's lyrics often deal with issues such as migration, racism, materialism, violence, masculinity and loneliness.
"World Goes to Pieces" (2010) - "It's global and sounds totally unlike anything else… To put it simply, this is world class hip hop." - Jody MacGregor, Rave Magazine
"Omar Musa - very young, very energetic- whose poetry, both spoken and written, busies itself with contemporary issues of justice, individual dignity, community identity, all the political stuff of our age." Rosemary Sorensen, The Australian
"Playing with issues of identity and contradiction and the complexities of everyday life are what inspires Musa." Sarah Malik, Sydney Morning Herald
Influences
He cites rappers Andre 3000, Masta Ace, Common and Nas as influences, as well as poets Anne Sexton, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Federico Garcia Lorca, and novelists Ernest Hemingway and Roberto Bolano.
Discography
Albums
- MoneyKat (2012) (distributed by Obese Records)
- The Year of the MoneyKat (2011)
- World Goes to Pieces (2010)
- The Shrappers Mixtape (2010)
- The Massive Mixtape (2010)
- The Massive EP (2009)
References
External links
- Official Facebook writers page
- Twitter page
- Omar Musa's official blog
- Lost in translation
- Rapper with a heart of a poet slams stereotypes
- Review of World Goes to Pieces