Sinkane, born Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, has earned a reputation for being an exceptionally gifted musician and a powerful lyricist. Combining his love of funk, rock, Sudanese pop, free jazz, Afrobeats, electronica, and gospel, he’s curated a unique sound. His soul-stirring performances have brought him adoration from his fans, acclaim from critics, and respect from his peers.

Before launching his solo career, he was a session musician for the likes of Eleanor Friedberger, Caribou, of Montreal, Born Ruffians, and Yeasayer, further expanding his musical palette. 

To date, he has released numerous projects, including his self-titled debut EP, “Mars,” “Mean Love,” “Life and Livin’ It," “Gettin’ Weird,” and several others

On April 5, Sinkane will release his first album in five years, “We Belong,” which he said is a “rebirth” of artistry. 

For Unboxed, Sinkane spoke about how living in Sudan and his family's influence led him to fall in love with music.

“I was born in the U.K.  But my dad was working for the Sudanese embassy as a diplomat. My first musical moment was a spiritual experience that I had with my mom's family,” Sinkane told BET.com. “Her dad was a very well-respected Sufi Muslim in the Sufi community and would have these gatherings where the whole congregation celebrated the Prophet's birth. He would recite these stories about the Prophet, the Hadith, and scriptures from the Quran in this kind of singsong way which is a big tradition in Sufi Islam.”

“There will be a lot of call and response in the congregation and it sounded like music to me. I didn't know what I was listening to, but I was mesmerized by it,” he continued.

As a child, he was inspired by Middle Eastern music and the indigenous musical forms of Sudan, described as” folkloric and religious music” that reverberated throughout his childhood.

“That music was spiritual and magnetic when you heard it. It puts you in a daze. That music was always playing in the house or wherever you go to the mosque where my dad grew up in this small town in Sudan. Also, Bob Marley, along with West African and South African music from Miriam Makeba, Fela Kuti, and King Sunny Adé

Another significant moment was when he saw the P-FUnk All-Star live as a teenager, which he said changed his life.

“Geroge Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic are some of my biggest inspirations. I saw them play when I was 13 years old at the “Smokin Grooves” tour. The Roots opened along with Cypress Hill, Erykah Badu, OutKast, and the P-Funk All-Stars. It was life-changing for me to watch all those groups,” Sinkane recalled. “ George, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell were all there."

Those encounters helped to spark his creativity and he went on to become a multi-instrumentalist in several bands before embarking on his career as a solo artist and band leader.

“I started playing the drums when I was in bands, and very quickly, I realized that I had a lot of musical ideas beyond just playing the drums in a band. I wanted to communicate to the band what I was hearing in my head. So, I very quickly went into guitar and keys," he said.

"When I graduated from college in 2006 and those bands broke up, I realized that I never did anything on my own. So, I started recording everything myself to get these ideas out. It was a lot of fun," he continued. "Playing one instrument is fun, but playing three or four instruments and knowing how to do three or four things is a wonderful challenge."

Having parents as international educators, deeply influenced Sinkane's approach to his music from an intellectual perspective.

“My parents being educators made me a cerebral person. I want to dig deep and intellectually understand what music I'm making and what I'm saying as far as the lyrics are concerned,” Sinkane explained. "I spend quite a lot of time thinking about it, maybe sometimes a little too much time.”

In preparation for the release of “We Belong,” Sinkane shared his excitement about the project. During his hiatus from recording, he went back to school to get a master's degree in composition because he wanted to “dig deeper into studying music,” which is the scarlet thread of the album. He also got married and celebrates the power of love on the album.

So far,  he has released several singles, including “Everything Is Everything,” “How Sweet Is Your Love,” and “We Belong,”  which is a musical convergence of psychedelic funk and the revival music of the Black Church. He spoke about the track's message, and how gospel music reconnected him to Africa, and the remarkable vocal performance by STOUT on the song.

“STOUT is the truth and everyone who sang on the album comes from the church. From STOUT, Tru Osborne, and Jessica Harp. One of the biggest things that connected me back to Africa was gospel music. I started listening to gospel maybe 20 years ago. I was introduced to it by just digging deeper into the blues, into jazz, and into Black music, which inevitably takes you back to gospel music,” Sinkane said.

“The call and response of gospel music has a very communal sound to it and it relates exactly to everything that I was feeling back when my grandfather was singing the spiritual hymns about the Prophet Muhammad,” he continued. “So I was like, wow, this is amazing. This is a beautiful, beautiful connection.”

His latest offering, “Come Together,” is another stunning song that calls for unity amidst the powerful forces attempting to divide us.  The visual for the track was shot in Cabo Verde on 16mm and features dancers and performers celebrating African culture. Sinkake described the song as his “love letter to Africa.”

Bruno Ferreira the director of the “Come Together” video, shared his vision behind the visual.

“When I started listening to “Come Together” some old images of Mandigas (traditional Cape Vert characters that perform during Carnival season to kind of scare Demons and bad vibes away) came to my mind as my big friend Raquel da Silva who’s also a producer sent me [photos] from Cape Vert where she’s working currently. With these images in my head it was immediate that I wanted to shoot the “Mandingas” but also to film a love letter to Africa," Ferreira said.

Currently, Sinkane is on a solo tour in a way that is completely different from what his fans expect from him. Instead of a large ensemble, he decided to strip everything down to evoke another response from his audience.

“Through April 9,  I'm doing the tour all by myself. It's a very unique show because I usually tour with a six-piece or even bigger band,” he said. “Now, it's just me, my guitar, some electronics. So it's a pretty interesting way to launch the album cycle.”

After five years, Sinkane looks forward to sharing his personal and musical evolution with his fans. To be able to be a musician for this long is his highest honor and gives him a deep sense of gratitude.

“The stars have aligned. This is the best album I think I've made to date and I'm very proud of it. This is the best live band I've assembled,” he said.

“Everyone on the team is super stoked so I'm excited to play music for the people and connect with the fans again, all over the world,” Sinkane said. “I've been doing this for 15-plus years now and I can still do it. There are not a lot of people who can't say that so I have a lot of gratitude.”