Abdu Ali is an American avant-garde musician, writer, cultural worker, and multidisciplinary artist. Their music is an idiosyncratic blend of punk, jazz, Baltimore club music, and rap. Through their energetic visceral performances, spiritualizing audiences, they have been anointed as a cosmic, punk, and soulful tempest on stage. Abdu’s art practice spans across sound, dialogue, literary text, and performance. Their works often interrogate ideas of race, gender, and sexuality that often manifests as poetic interrogations of identity, promoting liberation from oppressive ideologies and systems. Unapologetically black, gay & queer, Abdu Ali’s work is bold, raw, and most importantly life-affirming.
Abdu has been a recipient of The Contemporary: Grit Fund 2; aRuby Artist Grant; Best Artist Award by The LGBTQ Commission of Baltimore City, Baltimore Magazine Best Artist and have held residencies at Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp and Pioneer Works.
Photo: Micah Wood