It was hard not to feel out of place in my T-shirt and jeans standing in an eclectic concert crowd consisting of many leather get-ups and metallic face mask contraptions. I felt disconnected, like I was a part plugged into the wrong slot in a machine. As the lights dimmed, these thoughts were enveloped in an onslaught of glitched-out noises as Sudan Archives entered The Basement East stage. The conglomeration of people became transfixed as she glided across stage, booting up.
Silence spread across the system as she strapped on her violin, took her place on a platform in the middle of the stage, and placed the bow stick to the strings. My wandering eyes settled as the opening notes to “DEAD,” the lead single from 2025’s computer-inspired masterpiece THE BPM, entered. “Tell me, can you tell me where my body goes?” she sang, offering to the audience a declaration that her digital twin, Gadget Girl, is not all knowing. The tension built as synths raced behind her strings and a pulsating beat entered until she unplugged it all, enveloping the venue in a bombastic crash of electronics and vocal repeats. As opposed to shutting down though, Sudan Archives took her place as the energy source for the night.
She locked in to the electric verve provided by the opening track into the next songs, transitioning to a drum machine for the darkly-twisted “NOIRE,” installing a dancing software for “YEA YEA YEA,” and soldering together hand claps, strings, and synths into the deliciously psychedelic “NBPQ (Topless)” from her 2022 album Natural Brown Prom Queen. Pushing the crowd’s specs to the limits, she once again took a hold of her violin to slow the firing speed of the night, playing throwback hit “Nont for Sale,” a gorgeous expression of self independence. The dichotomous “Ciara” followed, blending smooth vocals and hard beats into an anthemic sing-along. Throughout this queue of songs, Sudan Archives remained completely in frequency with the crowd, demanding vocal callouts, claps, and getting so close-and-personal with the attendees she felt as one with us.
This incredibly intense start to the night served as my reminder as to how talented Sudan Archives is as an artist. Able to synthesize together her self-trained violin skills with various elements of essential black-founded musical genres such as electronic, R&B, and hip-hop, Sudan Archives’ unique creative fusion was on full display at The Basement East, and she felt truly singular. Even more impressive was her ability to command the entire room despite being alone on stage. Never before had I witnessed independence spawn such a collective spirit. The pedestal she spent much of the time on was a display of the one she should be put on in conversations about the state of music today.
Continually looking to level up, Sudan Archives hit a stride: “COME AND FIND YOU” took her to glitchy new spaces, “Freakalizer” (a personal favorite of mine) saw the crowd get their “freak on,” and the infection groove of “MY TYPE” developed into a full on riot. At this moment, Sudan Archives pulled onto stage her “freak” for the night who provided assistance with THE BPM’s standout, house-infused track, “A BUG’S LIFE.” Nashville’s “freak” was unabashedly himself, pop, locking, and dropping, a direct mirror of the high energy Sudan Archives was showcasing on stage.
The high-power energy source was bound to crash before the night’s end. Falling to the ground, Sudan Archives started “SHE’S GOT PAIN,” reminding the audience that androids have feelings too. You could feel a shift in tone as she made a plea for reprieve. An emotional climax for the night came with her performance of “A COMPUTER LOVE.” “I can be anything you need me to,” she screamed throughout the chorus, each word louder than the last. “I can be everything you need me but can you see past machines?” she concedes at the end of the musical passage, a true representation of how it feels to love in the digital age. Through this resonant showcase of emotion, Sudan Archives’ android persona reboots to a humanoid.
Emotionally crashing the mainframe, the primary setlist finished with a system upgrade that perfectly synthesized together the musical themes of her discography. Classical violin crossed with effortless R&B on “Come Meh Way,” “HEAVEN KNOWS” built layers of electronics into piano and was a comedown before “Selfish Soul,” a raucous expression of self-love centered around hair. Taking a bow, Sudan Archives left the stage to deafening applause from the system she powered for the last hour and a half.
Of course, the night could not finish without an encore and she returned to the stage for a trio of songs which further elevated the experience. My common complaint with encores at concerts is that they lack substance, seeking to perform extra songs without adding much to the story of the show as a whole. Sudan Archives proved me wrong though, starting her encore with the opener Cain Culto for her remix of “KFC Santería,” a raunchy rap cut that really fired the crowd up. This intensity continued into my favorite song from THE BPM, “THE NATURE OF POWER,” which had the entire crowd jumping wildly before she entered the crowd, parted the people, and initiated a collective dance break. She hopped back on stage to officially power down for the night with title track “THE BPM,” a fast-paced drum n’ bass-afflicted banger that ended the show in spectacular fashion.
When the lights came on, my initial feelings of disconnect with the people around me had dissipated. Sudan Archives’ motherboard-like presence on stage had united the crowd in unique circuitry and I felt no longer like a part plugged into the wrong port but rather a piece in a much larger, high-functioning computer. I walked out of The Basement East having witnessed a star-in-the-making performance and with a finer appreciation for all facets of feeling human in this age of artificiality and digital distortion.
