Taz: Reimagining the Soundscape of a Nation

At first glance, Port Sudan appears an unlikely cradle for experimental electronic music. Yet it is here, in a city shaped by migration, memory, and maritime rhythm, that Taz – born Zaher Nasr in 1999 – crafts a sonic language aimed at “reshaping how Sudan sounds”. His music, drawn from the textures of Sudanese daily life and the echoes of a broader African rhythm tradition, moves between introspection and assertion, emerging at a moment when Sudan’s cultural landscape faces both fragmentation and unprecedented reinvention.

Taz’s trajectory began, as he says, with a restless need to express his inner world: “Growing up, I experimented with so many tools – painting, poetry – to express my thoughts and views, but music was what I really got deep into.” The appeal lay in the limitless potential of sound. “It is also the enjoyment of the endless possibilities when it comes to sound creation,” he reflects, a sentiment that defines both his methodology and ambitions.

His refusal to anchor his influences in a list of names is telling. “I get inspiration from every sound or listening experience,” he says. Instead of lineage, he pursues texture; instead of genre, mood. Personal encounters feed into this process: “People, conversations, and having the purpose always inspires me.” His approach is deliberately fluid.

During his years in Amman, where he lived before returning to Port Sudan, he performed live for the first time. “I was a bit nervous because I had never shared this music before,” he recalls. “I did not know what people would feel about my Sudanese music in such places.” The response, however, was immediate and affirming.

“When I saw people get up and start dancing to my music, it was a very cool feeling, like some people could really resonate with what I do,” he shares. That evening, in a small venue far from home, Taz learned that Sudanese experimental sound could move across borders. This resonance is particularly significant given the ongoing challenges within Sudan. 

The producer has never played live in his own country, a fact that reflects not hesitation but circumstance. The instability that has shaped recent years has narrowed creative spaces, making public performance an act of risk and resilience. Still, he remains committed to working from Sudan, shaping music that absorbs its rhythms even if it cannot be played openly on its stages just yet.

That tenacity threads quietly through his vision. Taz hopes for more spaces and concepts that can help create a sense of community in which listeners play a part in its growth. He sees his role as both artist and bridge builder, offering audiences a Sudanese musical journey from his perspective while pushing the nation’s sound into rooms where it has never been heard. His upcoming debut album, a 40-minute exploration of Sudanese electronic music, is poised to expand that reach. “Some are meant for the dance floor, and others are to give you a listening experience,” he reveals.

If Taz’s rise says anything about the Arab region today, it is that creativity persists even in the tightest of margins. His music does not seek to escape Sudan but reinvent it, layering possibility and defiance into sound. And in doing so, he gestures towards a future where Sudanese electronic music is not an anomaly, but a vital strand in the cultural fabric of our region.