Asya Satti’s debut track ‘Look At You Now’ provided an intoxicating introduction to her multicultural tapestry of sounds. Praise from Clash and Wonderland soon followed, as did her first radio play courtesy of Tom Robinson at 6 Music. And the rarely explored cultural backdrop of Asya’s Sudanese heritage also captured people’s imagination, with her videos exploring the nation’s dialect, food and culture shocks attracting thousands of views. She also curated a pan-African playlist for Notion’s Selected By feature.
Who were your musical influences growing up?
It’s fairly diverse. Soul singers like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder. Kate Bush. Reggae artists like Horace Andy Toots and the Maytals. Sudanese artists Hassan Atiyah, Badey and Nada Algalaa. Egyptian pop songs including singers Abd Al Basset Hamouda. Then good old pop like Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue.
Tell us about your new single Drunk Drive and its official video…
The song is about feeling obsessed with someone to the point of feeling possessed. It’s not about drink driving but about the things you know you shouldn’t be doing. It was a lot of fun to shoot with Melody Berkery, the director and editor. She put together a simple idea that really captures the mood of the video. Emmanuel Li was the DOP on the day but we also used some footage from an older video of the song shot by Simeon Geyer.
How did growing up in Sweden to a family of Sudanese heritage influence the music that you write?
Sweden gave me a lot of exposure to western pop music in my early years. Once we moved to Egypt I heard a lot less western music, but Egyptian music was still so catchy; the rhythm to the songs was amazing! My Sudanese heritage has always carried through with my family and gave me a keen interest in what was happening in the country. I got into Sudanese music after my childhood though.
Describe your music in 3 words
Eclectic, soulful, rhythmic or in one word Afrofusion!
If you could collaborate with any other artist – who would that be?
If anything was possible it would have been Toots and the Maytals but I’d love to do a song with Burnaboy
Where do you get your inspiration from when writing songs?
Personal experiences or often, putting other people’s stories into words
If you had to be remembered for one thing apart from your music what would you want it to be?
I’d like to be remembered for taking care of those that I love
What do you hope to achieve in 2023?
Ooh I like to keep that close to my chest haha! However I’d like my music to find its audience and I’d like it to move people.
By Siân Parker
That Blogger Music 
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