His lyrics illustrate the desires of the Sudanese people to return to a peaceful, independent homeland. The symbolism of unity is expressed in the title, meaning both "peace" in Nuer and "power" in Sudanese Arabic.
He went on to produce his first album, Gua, a mix of rap in Arabic, English, Swahili, Dinka and Nuer. Although he lacked any music background or knowledge of its history, he felt that hip hop could provide the easiest and most effective vehicle to express his story and lobby for political change. After escaping to Kenya, he fell in love with hip hop in the way that it identified issues being faced by the neighbourhood, which he was able to identify with in a unique manner. Through his music, Jal counts on the unity of the citizens to overcome ethnic and religious division and motivate the youth in Sudan. His first single, "All We Need Is Jesus", was a hit in Kenya and received airplay in the UK. With the encouragement of those around him like Gatkuoth Jal who has also gone through the same experience, Jal became increasingly involved in music and formed several groups. He also became very active in the community, raising money for local street children and refugees. While studying in Kenya, Jal started singing to ease the pain of what he had experienced. But Jal eventually stumbled upon hip-hop and discovered the genre harboured incredible power, both spiritual and political. But even that came with hardships as he lived for years in the slums. With the help of a British aid worker (Emma McCune), Jal escaped into Kenya. He stayed in Kileleshwa with other refugees while attending Arboretum Sixth Form College.
However, after McCune died, her husband Machar did not agree with Emmanuel staying with him, and he was forced to live in the slums (maybe before he came to Kileleshwa). McCune died in a road accident a few months later, but her friends (Madeleine Bunting and Anna Ledgard) helped Emmanuel to continue his studies. There Emmanuel attended school in Brookhouse International School in Nairobi. She adopted him and smuggled him to Kenya. Emmanuel was only 11 years old then and McCune insisted he should not be a soldier. In Waat, Jal met Emma McCune, a British aid worker married to senior SPLA commandant Riek Machar. They were on the move for three months, with many dying on the way, until they reached the town of Waat, which was the headquarters of a small group that had separated themselves from the main SPLA. When the fighting became unbearable Jal and some other children decided to run away. "Many kids there were so bitter, they wanted to know what happened to them. Jal spent several years fighting with the SPLA in Ethiopia, until war broke out there too and the child soldiers were forced back into Sudan by the fighting and joined the SPLA's efforts to fight the government in the town of Juba. He then decided to join the thousands of children travelling to Ethiopia seeking education and opportunity.Īlong the way however, many of the children, Jal included, were recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Etwas disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight. His father joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and when he was roughly seven years old, his mother was killed by soldiers loyal to the government.
Jal was a young child when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out. He does not know exactly when he was born, and records his date of birth as 1 January 1980.
Jal was born to a Nuer family in the village of Tonj, Warrap State in the Bahr el Ghazal region of Sudan (now South Sudan).
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