The Tape

Emmanuel Jal- Warchild

Written by willshoob on Wednesday, 14 of May , 2008 at 2:17 pm

Let me start off by saying that this is one of the most interesting, inspiring, and flat out cool albums I’ve ever heard. Emmanuel Jal was a Sudanese child rebel soldier, who later escaped and is now living in London. Here is a little bit of background on Emmanuel.

“Emmanuel was recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Ethiopia. The camp was disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight. Emmanuel spent several years fighting with the SPLA in Ethiopia, until war broke out there too and the child soldiers were forced back into Sudan by the fighting and joined the SPLA’s efforts to fight the government. When the fighting became unbearable Emmanuel and some other children decided to run away. They were on the move for three months, with many dying on the way, until they reached the town of Waat, which was the headquarter on a small group that had separated themselves from the main SPLA.”

Emmanuel was later adopted by a lady by the name of Emma McCune, and she smuggled him into Kenya. Emmanuel wrote a song off his new album about her and in memory of her, because she died in a car crash shortly after he was adopted by her.

He has an absolutely amazing story, and I highly recommend this album to absolutely everyone even if you aren’t a fan of hip-hop. Here are a few mp3’s for your sampling pleasure from his new album (released yesterday) entitled Warchild.

Emmanuel Jal- Shadow of Death

Emmanuel Jal- 50 Cent

Emmanuel Jal- Emma

Category: Albums, Reviews

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