At Nile Nights, Music is the Gateway to Sudanese Excellence

In 2024, a group of Sudanese friends organized a charity event to help people affected by the war in Sudan. The initial idea was simple: plan a four-hour event with G-Salih, Nadine El Roubi, and DJ Love Bonez in New York City, then donate the proceeds to people on the ground. 

“The show sold out, the demand was so high,” entrepreneur Ibrahim Mohmed tells OkayAfrica. “It was electric, and nobody wanted to leave. Everyone was having the time of their lives connecting with the [other members of the] diaspora.”

People went up to Mohmed and told him they’d never had this feeling before. This was the community they had been missing but hadn’t known where to look for it. Nile Nights was born at that moment and went on to host events in NYC, Washington, DC, Dallas, London, and Cairo.

Meeting the Sudanese diaspora through music 

“The biggest thing I learned from running Nile Nights is that we’re still learning how to be a diaspora,” says Mohmed. “We want to be a diaspora that showcases itself, but we’re still [on the journey of] understanding who we are.” 

A large portion of Sudanese immigrants consists of doctors, engineers, and other professionals who are unlikely to open restaurants or grow into a large enough community to occupy a noticeable space. As a result, the Sudanese diaspora has often been scattered and largely invisible to non-Sudanese populations (except in Australia and Egypt). 

“There was a time in my life when I felt isolated and disconnected from my Sudanese identity, so being able to help create a space for others who might feel that same distance means a lot to me,” says Nile Nights emcee and medical student Akram Mahdi. 

“There’s beauty in that shared search for identity that we've all experienced in our own way, growing up outside of Sudan, taking shape across all these different contexts,” says writer, artist, and humanitarian G-Salih. “It’s the same root, expressed in so many different forms.”

The one thing most children of the diaspora will bond over is music. “No matter your race, ethnicity, or religion, music is a common value that people can share,” says Mohmed. “At our parties, we have a traditional singer, and that’s who people enjoy the most. They sing along to every word, and that’s been eye-opening, because we never thought that people were in tune with the culture that much.” 

“For Sudanese people, music has become both a form of celebration and a form of awareness that helps us process what we’re going through, amplify what’s happening back home, and at the same time share the beauty of who we are,” says G-Salih. 

“It connects people in a way that doesn’t require much explanation,” agrees Mahdi. “You might not know what someone is going through that day, what they’re carrying or dealing with, but in that moment, you’re both there for the same reason — you share an appreciation for a song or an artist. There’s something really powerful about that kind of connection.”

People listen to both the traditional and the contemporary music coming out of Sudan and its diaspora, and they’re open to discovering whatever the Nile Nights team curates. “In the beginning, we went for artists with big names, but we've since shifted towards more undiscovered artists that people should know about,“ says Mohmed. “People come for the experience.” 

Promoting Sudanese excellence

The Nile Nights team has been winging all of their events, which mirrors how Mohmed thinks about Sudanese people in general. “We're problem solvers, and we don't need much to build something,” he says. “We work with what we have and can produce something that’s really good.”

Their parties have become a stepping stone for branching out to dinners, bazaars, and conferences. “Sudanese people aren’t just good at music and arts, they’re also good at business, cooking, and other forms of creations,” asserts Mohmed. “Sudanese excellence is across the board, but because we’re the first generation in the diaspora, we haven’t had the right representation yet to see what we could become.” 

“I think, culturally, a lot of us are taught to be humble, sometimes to the point where we downplay our own creativity,” says Mahdi. “What I appreciate is that Nile Nights gives people a space to share that openly and be recognized for it.”

The Nile Nights event in Washington, DC, consisted of a conference on the first day, followed by a party on the second. It was a gamble, but 120 people turned out for the panel discussions and fireside chats, proving that the Sudanese diaspora is ready and excited to engage in thought-provoking discussions. 

“We want people to remember the essence of what it means to be Sudanese: kindness and helping each other out in non-transactional ways,” says Mohmed. 

Mahdi adds another quintessential Sudanese trade. “One thing I’ve learned that holds true no matter where Sudanese people are in the world — New York, London, Dallas — it doesn’t matter… we are going to be late to events. Every time.”

Building a global network

In 2026, Nile Nights will come to Toronto, Chicago, and LA, and return to NYC, London, and Cairo. Cairo is a special place because the diaspora there is not mostly North American but truly international; it includes people who have just left Sudan, European Sudanese, and even Australian Sudanese. 

“It feels like healing the inner child that wanted to be around people who could relate to us, look like us, and understand us, but still have their own perspectives and upbringings,” says Ali Abdalla, sales engineer and Nile Nights’ accountant. 

The London show was his favorite so far. “Seeing cousins and friends reconnect after decades, catch up, and introduce their new friends to one another was really special,” he shares. “It showed the interest and care people have in connecting with their extended roots.”

“A lot of people are holding grief and uncertainty, and while music can’t fix that, it can help people process it in their own way. It creates a space to feel, to release, and to reconnect—not just with the music, but with each other,” says Mahdi. “In that sense, it becomes a real tool for healing and for building solidarity.”

“It’s also about expanding to include and collaborate with other African communities and building something together that feels united,” adds G-Salih.

This solidarity can then be used to achieve another of Nile Nights’ goals. “We can never forget that Nile Nights was built on the idea of rebuilding Sudan and helping people back home survive,” says their resident DJ Love Bonez. “So success to me looks like changing people’s lives in Sudan and just pouring back into my community and my people as much as I can.”

“InshAllah, one day I’d love to host a Nile Nights back home in Sudan — when our country is free from war, pain, and suffering,” says Mahdi. “That would mean everything.”