Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese–Canadian rapper, singer, DJ, actor, author, entrepreneur and peace activist. Born to a Nuer family in Tonj, Warrap State, he was recruited as a child soldier by the SPLA during the Second Sudanese Civil War after his mother was killed. At age eleven he was rescued and adopted by British aid worker Emma McCune, smuggled to Kenya, and educated in Nairobi before living in the city's slums. There he discovered hip hop as a way to process trauma and grew into adulthood with music as a tool for expansion.

Jal’s debut single “All We Need Is Jesus” became a Kenyan hit and led to his first album Gua (2005), mixing Arabic, English, Swahili, Dinka and Nuer languages. “Gua” (meaning “peace” in Nuer and “power” in Sudanese Arabic) symbolized his reconciliation with both concepts and reached No.1 in Kenya, later appearing on The Rough Guide to the Music of Sudan and War Child’s Help: A Day in the Life. His follow-up Ceasefire (2005) with Sudanese Muslim musician Abd El Gadir Salim re-recorded “Gua” to unite opposing sides of the conflict. 

His third album Warchild came out in 2008. Then he performed at Live 8 Cornwall, Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Concert at Hyde Park, Glastonbury and the One Concert for the Dalai Lama; and collaborated with Amy Winehouse, Will Smith, Lauryn Hill, Xavier Rudd, Peter Gabriel, Nelly Furtado, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Joss Stone, Ed Sheeran, Nile Rodgers and Alicia Keys. Subsequent albums include See Me Mama (2012, Universal Canada), The Key (2014), Naath (2018, with his sister Nyaruach) and Shangah (2022).

Alongside socially conscious hip hop and Afro-pop, Jal is a leading Afrohouse DJ and producer. He tours globally in both DJ and live formats, with recent shows at KOKO London, House is Life Angola, Higher Ground Showcase with Diplo in Nairobi, T7 Paris and Mmino Music London.

Jal’s activism is strongly rooted in art: He founded Gua Africa in 2009 to educate South Sudanese refugees and war survivors, achieving NGO status in South Sudan, Kenya and the UK. 
He completed a 661-day “Lose to Win” fast to build Emma Academy in Leer, South Sudan. 
He launched the global “We Want Peace” campaign in 2010, speaking to hundreds of thousands of youth worldwide and addressing the UN, US Congress, the Carter Center and the G20 summit. 
His awards include the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent (2018), Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Award (2017), UNESCO Hero in the Global Campaign Against Violent Extremism (2016), the Dresden Peace Prize and the Common Ground Award. In 2012 he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

He is also an author of two books: War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story (Little Brown, 2009) and My Life is Art (Counterpoint Press, 2024), and the subject of the 2008 documentary War Child (winner of 12 festival awards). As an actor he co-starred with Reese Witherspoon in Warner Bros.’ The Good Lie and played the adult lead in Africa United. He has appeared at Virgin Unite conferences and worked with Amnesty International, the British Council and Oxfam.

Jal owns Gatwitch Records, Jal Gua Foods (a company that produces an organic sorghum-moringa superfood stocked in Canadian Whole Foods stores) and has launched a social enterprise called “The Key is E” to empower Africans through education and entrepreneurship.