Birth name Omar bin Musa Role Author Name Omar Musa | Years active 2002–present Instruments Vocals, | |
 | ||
Born 9 January 1984 (age 40)
Queanbeyan, New South Wales, AUS ( 1984-01-09 ) Genres Hip Hop, slam poetry, spoken word, Occupation(s) Poet, rapper, songwriter, author Books Parang, Here Come the Dogs, The Clocks Albums World Goes to Pieces, The Massive - EP Similar People Soweto Kinch, Koolism, Hau Latukefu, The Last Kinection, Joelistics | ||
Omar musa my generation
Omar bin Musa (born 9 January 1984) is an award-winning author, poet and rapper from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He has released three solo hip hop records (including DEAD CENTRE) and three books of poetry. His debut novel Here Come the Dogs was published in 2014. Here Come the Dogs was long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and Musa was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.
Contents
A chat with omar musa
Early life
Musa is the son of Australian arts journalist Helen Musa and Malaysian poet Musa bin Masran. He is of Suluk, Kedayan and Irish ancestry. He studied at the Australian National University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Career
Musa has combined hip hop music and poetry throughout his career. He was runner up in the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam, before winning in 2009 at the Sydney Opera House. He went on to win the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2010. In 2010, he also did support for Gil Scott-Heron in Munich, Germany. In 2011, he was a guest panellist on ABC's Q&A. In 2013, he received a standing ovation at TEDxSydney at the Sydney Opera House.
He has performed and collaborated with numerous musicians and hip hop artists, including Kate Tempest, Marc E. Bassy, Daniel Merriweather, Kate Miller-Heidke, Lior, Horrorshow, Mantra, Akala, Soweto Kinch, Joelistics, The Last Kinection, Hau Latukefu from Koolism and L-FRESH the LION.
Musa has published three books of poetry, The Clocks, Parang and Millefiori. Meaning "machete" in Malay, Parang deals with Musa's Malaysian heritage, migration and loss, and includes his well-known spoken word poem "My Generation". Parang received praise from Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors Mohsin Hamid and Jeet Thayil.
Musa's debut novel Here Come The Dogs was published by Penguin Books (Australia) in July 2014. The story centres around the lives of three disaffected young men in small town Australia. Here Come the Dogs received praise from novelists Irvine Welsh and Christos Tsiolkas. The Guardian Australia described it as examining "race, identity and the unrealised dreams of disempowered Australian youths". The Los Angeles Times said it was "rousing" and "searing", and that "with compassion and urgency, Here Come the Dogs excavates the pain of those who struggle to remain part of a ruthless equation that has been determined by others."
Here Come the Dogs was nominated for numerous awards, such as the Miles Franklin Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and won the People's Choice Award at the ACT Book of the Year Awards. Musa was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Young Novelists of the Year.
In 2016, Musa released DEAD CENTRE, a hip hop EP that featured appearances by Kate Miller-Heidke, Lior, Mataya, L-FRESH the LION and Hau. It was described by The Guardian Australia as "vital, if uneven" and received four out of five stars in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Musa's work often deals with the themes of migration, Australian racism, violence, masculinity and loneliness.
Influences
He cites rappers Andre 3000, Ice Cube, Masta Ace, Common and Nas as influences, as well as poets Anne Sexton, Dorothy Porter, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Federico Garcia Lorca, and novelists Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy and Roberto Bolaño.