Sierra Leone’s Freetown Music Festival wrapped up its second edition on the last weekend of March. Abdul Salam Bari aka ‘Bad Man’ aka Yung Sal closed out the festival in epic fashion. He performed bangers like Kam Join We and the hit anthem dedicated to all the fine Salone ooman dem Bad.
We caught up with Yung Sal before his show at Freetown Music Festival. See the clip below where he talks music, football and who’s his favourite bad girl.
Freetown Music Festival launched in 2016 to celebrate the country being declared Ebola-free. This year the two-day lineup was spread across multiple stages set up along one of the country’s most popular beaches, Lumley Beach.
The festival was a raw music experience. Auto-tune was banned (good!). All acts performed with live bands and Yung Sal SHUT IT DOWN. See the crowd’s reaction for yourself here:
Yung Sal got Freetown hyped just in time for independence month coming up in April, and also for his next show – a solo performance at the beachside Bintumani Hotel in Freetown on April 27, Sierra Leonean Independence Day.
The 27-year old rapper from central Freetown lists Drake, Kanye West, and Sierra Leonean entertainer Jimmy B as inspirations. He’s not just a local act – outside of Sierra Leone he’s performed in Accra and Lagos, to name a few cities.
Yung Sal is part of a wave of young talents changing the narrative of Sierra Leone so it’s no longer seen as a country of blood diamonds and disease. That’s why Bad Man’s not only jump starting Sierra Leonean independence month in Freetown, but here on TRUE Africa too.
Stay tuned this month for a special feature on the young people in the country and throughout the diaspora who are telling Sierra Leone’s story on their own terms.
This is part of a guest editorship series by Nadia Sesay. She’s producing a special feature for TRUE Africa on Sierra Leone.