After spending five horrific years in the bush, Jal was smuggled into Kenya by an aid worker and soon started organizing concerts for Nairobi’s homeless children and refugees like himself.
He made his performing debut with an outfit called Reborn Warriors and then went on to score one of the biggest African hip-hop hits of all time with his first solo single, ‘All You Need Is Jesus’.
His fame spread to this part of the world last year when he lined up alongside likes of Radiohead, Kaiser Chiefs, Gorillaz and Antony & The Johnsons on the latest War Child compilation.
Other Festival highlights traditional Saharan desert musician Wodaabe, Italian jazz funker Enzo Avitabile, the Warsaw Village Band, Brazil’s Marlui Miranda and most exotically, Mundy, from deepest darkest Birr.