Rapper Oddisee on the joys and lessons of growing up in Sudan – The National

Rapper Oddisee on the joys and lessons of growing up in Sudan – The National

When Oddisee arrives in the UAE for his debut Abu Dhabi performance on Tuesday, he'll follow family footsteps going back about 80 years ago.Speaking to The National ahead of his show at NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre, the American-Sudanese rapper and producer recalls how his two uncles came to the emirate from Sudan in the 1960s – before the formation of the UAE – to work in the fledgling banking industry.“They were part of that generation of OGs that really contributed to establishing the finance sector in the UAE,” he says. “I would come to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain to visit and pay respects to the family, so it has always been a special place full of memories.”Oddisee, real name Amir El Khalifa, puts his work ethic and nomadic spirit to a childhood filled with holidays that were not for the faint of heart. Born in Washington DC to an African-American mother and Sudanese father, these trips to the Gulf would include summer holidays in Omdurman, Sudan.“Now this place, especially back then, was nowhere as developed as the capital Khartoum. As a kid, my father would send me back to stay with family in the summer from June to