waayahacusub.net | Somali hip hop for peace
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About Us

About Us

Hip hop, soul, pop, dance

Somali Music Culture

Somali Music Culture

Heart of the People

Rap Against Extremism

Rap Against Extremism

Africa, Europe, North America

Press

Press

BBC, CNN, Rolling Stone, Universal

What’s New

What’s New

Music, Videos & Concerts

Waayaha Cusub

Somali hip hop’s journey for peace

We are Somali hip hop group, Waayaha Cusub. We work together with the community to promote peace, to call for an end to extremism and oppression, and to help rebuild our country and strengthen our culture. We have songs of dance, pop, and hip hop. Our music, festivals, youth outreach, and counter-extremism efforts, which included the historic Somali Sunrise Concert Tour for Peace and its Mogadishu Music Festival, have been covered by the BBC, CNN, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Aljazeera, France24, Radio Daljir, Universal, Genius, and more. We have also been fortunate to collaborate with global icons including Desiigner (U.S.), K’naan (Canada/ Somalia), Alsarah (Sudan / U.S.), Ukoo Flani (Kenya), Kombo Chokwe & Afrosimba (Kenya), and others. Soo dawaada. Hawshu ha socoto!
What's New

Leave the conflict behind. Believe in your people. Support your country. Let the work continue.

Quotes from the press

  • "Waayaha Cusub leading the return of modern music to Somalia's frontline is building a legacy far beyond hip hop diplomacy..." -- ROLLING STONE

  • "Armed with powerful songs a daring group of hip hop musicians has defied violent attacks to spread its message of peace in war-torn Mogadishu..." -- CNN

  • Waayaha Cusub "hopes to build an alliance to convince young people to turn away from extremism and violence" in Somalia... -- VICE

  • "Felis Abdi singing at a prisoner-of-war camp with former Al Shabaab extremists who tried to kill her husband proves she's one of the bravest women in the music world..." -- Humanitarian Bazaar Magazine

  • "Shiine Akhyaar gets out of the hospital spinning lyrics like an African Tupac, rapping against the guys who tried to kill him..." -- Matador Network

Current Performers

We are most often represented by singer Felis Abdi, rapper MC Digriyow Abdi, and poet-rapper-organiser Shiine Akhyaar. And we also currently include Lihle Muhudin, Ahmed Noor, Burhan Ahmed Yare, and Lil Hanat. Other performers join when possible.

Former Members

Original co-founders included singer Dalmar Yare and Hodan Abdirahman. We have also included Salma Abdul Qadir, Q-Rap aka Quincy Brian, Hussein Abdi Qananuf, Abbas Hirad, and many others.

Partners

We have made music with global stars including Desiigner, K’naan, and Alsarah. And we ran projects together with the People of Somalia, the United Nations, U.S. Embassy in Kenya, Spotify, BBF, and Humanitarian Bazaar. Follow the link for more detail.

What We Do

Power in peace, music, and poetry.

CONCERTS

Africa, Europe, North America, Global

We’ve already performed across Africa, Europe, and North America. And we’re ready for more. While we are loyal to the Somali community, we are also glad to support global peace, dance, and hip hop projects for other causes, as well.

VIDEOS

Feature doc, short film, music video

We have produced and acted in dozens of music videos, as well as shoret films. The feature documentary film covering our long journey will premiere later this year.

MUSIC

Somali hip hop, soul, dance, ballads

Our music covers a wide range from poetry over a drum beat, energetic dance, hip hop rap battles, rap-against-extremism, to sweet songs of love and friendship.

Projects

Rap-Against-Extremism, Peacebuilding

We headlined the historic Mogadishu Music Festival as a project of rap-against-extremism. We also love to do open mic workshops with youth. They can sing, rap, learn to rap, recite poetry, dance, or speak their mind while we encourage them to reduce conflict.