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Today, the fourth of July, Tulsa based singer-songwriter Casii Stephan is releasing her new single “King in America.” With a hard White Stripes-type bassline and a voice reminiscent of Fiona Apple and Lorde, Stephan has created a fiery anthem of resistance and one against the notion of “kings” in the US. The song also features a verse from Damion Shade.
We caught up with Stephan to learn a bit more about the song and the history behind it. Stephan explained how the song was written just before the ‘No Kings’ protests in the US, more specifically around the inauguration of Donald Trump.
“I wrote it because I was in Ireland and the UK around the time of Trump’s inauguration and shortly after it. I was hearing how Americans are loud, bold, and brash. I came home and of course the executive orders were going out left and right, and a songwriter friend was saying they were ready to rise up and they had their pitchfork. Also my trans friends were being threatened and I couldn’t just skate by. I’m a straight white woman. This song is me saying ‘Pick on me. Don’t pick on them. Come after the majority.'”
We asked Stephan how the reception has been so far, of her new song as well as of her protest songs in general, and she mentioned that her most popular song to date is her cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs.’ Unfortunately, such a song is still very relevant today.
“I’ve done the mental work and preparation to know this is what I want to do and if people don’t like it, oh well. We’re at a crucial time. Things are just getting worse. If we don’t push back now, it gets harder as time goes by.“
Meanwhile, the debate continues, about whether art and activism should go hand in hand or somehow be seperated. Stephan adds that it depends on the artist. She doesn’t believe that the two can be separated, especially during times like these, but she acknowledges that some artists need to keep the politics out of their art.
To each their own. We’re all here to do different things. Some of us are healers. Some of us are entertainers. Some of us are here to create an atmosphere. It’s the artist’s job to figure that out.
Sudan’s civil war, ignited in April 2023 by a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), has plunged the country into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
Over 12 million people have been displaced, making Sudan the largest host of internally displaced persons globally. Famine conditions have been reported in parts of North Darfur, with over 600,000 individuals at risk of starvation. Cholera outbreaks and other diseases have surged due to the collapse of healthcare infrastructure.
Since the war started, Sudanese artists have taken up their instruments and created a wealth of music, protesting war, violence and oppression and singing their songs of unity, love and hope.
Here are only a few examples of Sudanese music released since the war started in 2023.
Sudanese Edits – Fresh Moses
Sudanese DJ, based out of Toronto, Canada, released this EP in January 2024. On the EP’s Bandcamp page she writes:
“Don’t forget to donate the Sudanese humanitarian crisis. sapa-usa.org
“As of January 2024, more than 20 million people are facing acute food insecurity. It is expected that 24.8 million people in Sudan, approximately half the population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2024” (disasterphilanthropy.org, 2024).”
1fINA2kHAIR3fEL4mAWT5wALHAYA – Baajin ุจุงุฌูุบ
This album was produced in 2024, during the conflict, with “very primitive tools,” both in Port Sudan and in Egypt, as well as while traversing the illegal immigrant route between the two. “It will take you on an adventure from Darfur to Khartoum around 1945 in search of money, and from Khartoum to Egypt in 2024 in search of safety. Disgust, sadness, fear, anticipation, obsession, gloom, the lover’s demon touch, and a brave decision to face all that on track number 4, ุงูุฌุฎููู ุงูุนุธูู jacnonzem.”
Ghany Ya Khartoum โ A.G Nimeri
A.G. Nimeri release Ghany Ya Khartoum in 2023. The lyrics to the song is a poem by Mahjoub Sharif and the title translates to “Sing, Khartoum.”
One Hand / Yad Wahda โ Wd Alzain
Sudanese reggae singer Wd Alzain calls for peace and for the war to end with his song One Hand. The song calls for all of Sudan to unite, irregardless of their various tribal and religious differences.
Samtan Ya Sawt Al Dana โ Mujtaba Alseddigand Mohammed Hamid
Released on 24 April 2023, Samtan Ya Sawt Al Dana calls for the sounds of โAl Danaโ (the bomb) to end, and an end to the war. The song is sung and written by Mohammed Hamid based on a poem by Mahmoud Aljaily, and composed by Mujtaba Alseddig.
Gomriea โ Hleem Taj Alser, featuring Awabtherapper
Popular Sudanese rapper Hleem Taj Alser released โGomrieaโ on 28 April 2023, featuring Awabtherapper. The description under the music video further explains the meaning of โGomreiaโ as well as โAzzaโ, which translates to โdearโ or โbelovedโ, and is a word Sudanese commonly use to refer to their country.
Ya Watani Balad Ahbabi โ Roaa Mohammed Naeem and Mafaz Bushra
Sudanese artists Roaa Mohammed Naeem and Mafaz Bushra released their cover of the Ya Watani Balad Ahbabi (my homeland, the country of my beloved) by the late Sayed Khalifa on 13 May 2023. The music video features grim images of destruction in Sudan due to ongoing war in the country with several Sudanese personalities signifying โStop the Warโ gestures with their hands.
Al Hissa Watan โ MISTA.D featuring A.G and Zeyo Mann
Al Hissa Watan is a politically charged song, featuring MISTA.D, A.G and Zeyo Mann with beats that uniquely bring together reggae, rap and jazz. “Al Hissa Watan” is a popular Sudanese and Arabic saying, which loosely translates to “The Lesson is Country”. The end of the music video, a man states “It is not our fight. This is a war between the kizan [Burhanโs regime] and Janjaweed [the RSF].”
5arab โ Hyper, featuring Cymona
Sudanese rapper hyper released โ5arabโ on 15 May 2023, which was produced, mixed and mastered by Cymona. Part of the lyrics loosely translate to “We seek refuge in God/And to God we complain/A plane and a tank in the heart of the city/Because of chairs, a mother slept sadly/Their ambitions are personal, and their grudges are buried deep”
Fotty Wen โ Radi
Sudanese rapper Radi released โFotty Wenโ on 19 May 2023, featuring various clips of the two warlords wreaking havoc in Sudan: Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Al Burhan, the de facto ruler of Sudan who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), the former de facto deputy ruler of Sudan who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Dreams of Homeland / Ahlam Watan โ Ahmed Amin
Sudanese singer Ahmed Amin previously released his anti-war hit Civil, Freedom & Peace during the Sudanese Revolution in 2019. Now, he has returned with a new song, Dreams of Homeland, which was released on 3 June 2023, and composed and arranged himself.
Tatheer โ Sharara
Sudanese rapper Sharara released the militant protest song โTatheerโ on 3 June 2023. On the song’s YouTube page Sharara writes: “Victorious, God willing, there will be no militia ruling the country. Whether life is long or short, truth will triumph over falsehood. The sun of Sudan will rise again. We have a share in life. We will fight injustice even if it costs us our lives. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, my homeland. I will die free in my homeland and I do not accept a life of humiliation. May God have mercy on all the martyrs of tonight.”
Refugees โ Osman Nawawe
Osman Nawawe released โRefugeesโ on 8 June 2023, as an ode to Sudan and the Sudanese people who were forced to leave their homeland due to the war.
N7na Bkheer โ Mohammed Alkinani
N7na Bkheer translates to โWe Are Fineโ, which is the optimistic and positive message the song aims to deliver. The song’s YoutTube page states:
“Our battle is against war, against weapons, against killing, against rape, against looting, against displacement and homelessness.
We will build it, and we dream of it every day. A vast homeland A homeland that accommodates everyone.”
Ma Taktuluna โ Sheikh Altareeqa, featuring Roaa Mohammed Naeem
Sudanese rapper Ameen Al Hindi, better known as Sheikh Altareeqa, released his new single Ma Taktuluna (Donโt Kill Us), featuring Sudanese singer Roaa Mohammed Naeem on 21 June 2023.
My Sister โ Ahmed Amin
Ahmed Amin released another song โMy Sisterโ on 26 June 2023 as an ode to young girls and women who have been violated during the war in Sudan. Nearly 90 cases of rape have been reported since the war began 15 April 2023, some as young as 13 years old.
Sunny War, born Sydney Lyndella Ward, defies genre in her latest album Armageddon in a Summer Dress. The mixture of genres, such as punk, folk, and pop, makes the album feel like a rich experience where you get to taste different things in one place. The Nashville singer-songwriter brings with her a five-piece band, but you don’t feel distracted by this. It’s like listening to one unified sound that is being done by one person.
The album begins suddenly as if it steals your breath away. One Way Train, the first song, starts immediately with no introductory music to prepare you for the lyrics. You find yourself diving deep into the world that is Armageddon in a Summer Dress. Just like War defies genre, she also defies logic in the first song. Despite the heaviness of the lyrics, which explore the current status we find ourselves in where the world is filled with fascists and not enough money to survive, you find yourself swaying to the upbeat music. It feels like a club song in the best way possible. It feels like a defying song. Something you will shout as you march against everything wrong with our world.
Again, War continues defying logic as the next song is the same when it comes to how the music contradicts the heaviness of the lyrics. Bad Times makes you stare at the fact that poverty is beginning to prevail. You face the truth of โI’ve got no money, so I’ve got no power.โ And just like you might feel close to the songโs lyrics, you find yourself wanting to say loudly โBad times, stay away.โ How many times does one find themselves wishing for bad times to stay away? Probably a lot more than the ones said by War, but they’ll do.
War finally takes some kind of mercy on you in Rise, which feels like a lullaby you wish someone would sing for you at the end of a bad day. But Warโs pessimism, which is understandable in our times, still seeps into the song in a way when she sings โBad days go and they come / But the good do too, my friend.โ We still have to rise because what do we have left if we give up? The sun keeps rising, and War reminds you that you, too, can be like the sun.
A different road appears in front of you as you listen to Ghosts. It’s a road filled with eerie music and longing for someone who is long gone. The song becomes more meaningful when you realize that War wrote it after having hallucinations in her late father’s 100-year-old house because of a gas leak, but the lyrics make you feel like she truly saw ghosts. The music and the electric guitar at the end carry you to the end of the song. For a minute, if you close your eyes, you can believe in ghosts too.
The highlight of the album, to me at least, is Walking Contradiction ft. Steve Ignorant of Crass. It is a lyrical masterclass where you can’t find anything to judge. War and Ignorantโs combined voices can start a revolution if you listen to the song for the right amount of time. It’s a reflection of everything wrong with America and how “the genocide” is funded by Americans’ taxes. I found myself holding my breath when I heard โYour humanity does not outweigh your will to surviveโ because of how true it is. Walking Contradiction is the kind of song you wish everyone knew about. Just like War and Ignorantโs voices are weaved together, so are the rest of the albumโs songs. You can’t help but start making connections in hopes of following Warโs vision or coming close to it. So when you hear in this song โWe sell labor, we sell hours, sell our power, sell our souls,โ you immediately think of โI’ve got no money, so I’ve got no powerโ in Bad Times.
Walking Contradiction remains with you even as the next song, Cry Baby, starts. It couldn’t come at a better place. War sings about hope amidst pain, and you have pain inside of you after listening to Walking Contradiction. โBut you did it once before / I know you’ll do it once more,โ War says and you think that this can be adapted to everything the world is going through, including America. History books tell you that nothing lasts forever, and that pain ends one day, and so does War.
In keeping with pain, No One Call Me Baby reminds us of how lonely we can feel. It perfectly captures the essence of loneliness, and you find yourself feeling some kind of loneliness even if you are surrounded by people. โNo one calls me baby anymore / I hold my own hand,โ War says, but you still feel like she is holding your hand and guiding you through the rest of the album.
Scornful Heart ft. Trรฉ Burt comes next and you feel its relation to the entire album. The voices fading away at the end are just like this album, both stay with you after the end. The echoes remain with you, just like you still feel Warโs hand clasping yours.
The heaviness of the album keeps going on in Gone Again ft. John Doe which the album gets its title from. If No One Call Me Baby captures the essence of loneliness, then Gone Again captures the essence of regret. You can almost imagine an old lady regretting her marriage and having kids, and for a moment, you are reminded of your own regrets.
โIn your old age as you prepare for death Regret will haunt you ’til thereโฒs no you left Itโฒs bittersweet, but at least it’s the end You catch your breath and then itโฒs gone againโ
Till this point in the album, War managed to handle carefully different emotions such as loneliness and regret. She is weaving a tapestry where there are different colors, but they somehow create something very much complete.
Lay Your Body has its own heavy themes to show off. The longing for someone is a universal feeling, and War seems to know it too well. She asks โWon’t you come back?โ and you find yourself thinking of all the times you asked the exact same question. The music feels soft, like pleading with someone to come back, but you can’t show the extremism of your emotions so you don’t scare them away. In a way, I was pleading with War to never end Armageddon in a Summer Dress.
The final song, Debbie Downer, also has upbeat music, and it feels like the perfect end to this journey.
โYou’re a negative Nancy A Debbie Downer You’re perpetually antsy An infinite frowner This life’s too short And you’re too crude Please don’t distort Hijack my moodโ
โPlease don’t distort / hijack my mood,โ is the feeling you have left at the end of Armageddon in a Summer Dress. The ending of this song feels definite, like a goodbye to the album. In a way, Debbie Downer ends as suddenly as the album started. You remain holding your breath as all the feelings created by Armageddon in a Summer Dress remain with you.
