Dua Saleh is feeling pretty good, and not just because the world is about to witness their major acting debut as new kid Cal in Season 3 of Netflix’s Sex Education. “I’m sitting by a windowsill, surrounded by trees, smoking a joint and listening to Lyra Pramuk,” they tell us. “I just cued up Jasmine Infinity, booboo, and papa mbye as well.” Music, to those uninitiated in all things Dua Saleh, has been the 25-year-old’s primary focus for much of their adult life. The Sudanese-American artist and producer released their debut EP Nūr in 2019 (sexy stand-out track “Sugar Mama” is still a favourite of ours), then swiftly followed up with ROSETTA in 2020, followed by a live i-D i-N SESSION performance streamed direct from their studio.
While for many, the past couple of years has ushered in a creative drought, Dua has instead added acting to their repertoire. They’ll join Maeve (Emma Mackey), Otis (Asa Butterfield), Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) and Ola (Patricia Allison) as new non-binary student Cal at Sex Education’s Moordale High. Cal is a free-spirited skater and stoner who clashes with the school’s new headmistress Hope, played by Jemima Kirke of Girls fame.
Desperate for an insight into Dua’s listening habits, we called on them to make us a back to school playlist to celebrate their first term as a student at Moordale. The result is an eclectic one hour and 44 minutes of songs they listened to on set, a selection of music by other queer Midwestern artists and a hyperactive track made by ZAH — a tattoo artist and producer they just got inked by. Listen to the playlist below and read on as we disrupt their day to discover that Dua was actually a massive nerd in high school, get their take on South Wales (where Sex Education is shot) and find out what we can expect from their next EP, CROSSOVER.
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