Sudanese singer-songwriter, based between Khartoum and Cairo, introduces her debut body of work with the lead single ‘Moya W Nar’, a meditation on coexistence under pressure, supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).
The track opens on sparse piano chords, lightly brushed by drums that feel more breathed than struck, giving her voice room to hover and test the air. Hiba’s flow intensifies as the song unfolds, moving between soft neo-soul phrasing and rhythmic urgency. By the midpoint, the production swells and distorts, bleeding into white noise and textural interference. She writes in metaphor as water doesn’t simply soothe, fire doesn’t only destroy, circling themes of struggle, hope, and collective tension.
Modern synths and low-slung basslines ripple beneath the arrangement, interwoven with reimagined tum tum and hexagonal rhythms from central and northern Sudan. The sound design leaves space between notes, using silence as texture. The project’s visuals, helmed by frequent collaborators and sisters Mai and Sally Elgizouli, further shape its aesthetic world, blending contemporary silhouettes with Sudanese iconography.
Raised in an artistic household, Elgizouli co-founded The Elgizouli Sisters as a creative production platform and later helped launch Salute Yal Bannot, Sudan’s first all-female band, using music as a tool for social commentary. She has performed on stages ranging from Arabs Got Talent to regional cultural incubators, while working across disciplines with theater directors, filmmakers, and grassroots creatives.
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