Biography

Abdu Ali is a Baltimore based electronic musician, writer, cultural worker and multidisciplinary artist who works in sound, collaboration, video and performance. Their work often interrogates ideas of race, gender, and sexuality that manifests as poetic inquiries of identity, promoting liberation from oppressive ideologies and encouraging self marginalized peoples to be self determined. Ali’s work also centers promoting authentic Black queer legacies and narratives as their histories are often subjected to distortion and erasure. Described as a cosmic, punk, and soulful tempest on stage, Ali has performed across the U.S. Europe, and at MoMa Ps1, The Carnegie Museum of Art, and The Kennedy Center. Their work has been highlighted by the New York Times, The Fader, Elephant Magazine, Tracks Arte TV and more. In 2019, Ali founded as they lay, a curatorial platform that claims space for critical dialogue, collaboration and radical envisioning for Black creative futures. Ali has held residencies at Red Bull Music, Pioneer Works and in 2022 was a visiting artist at the Brown Arts Institute at Brown University. Ali was also a recipient of the 2018 Ruby Artist Grant. 
 Abdu Ali, breakout star of what might be called Baltimore club music’s fourth wave — THE FADER 
 Ali spits with deep, deity-like vocal effects...while mind-bending synths add to the dystopian feel of it all — NOISEY 
 Abdu Ali is challenging the stereotypes in the rap community — NOW THIS