Omar Musa

Who is Omar Musa?

Omar bin Musa is a poet and rapper from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He won the Australian Poetry Slam in 2008 and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2009. He has released two solo hip hop records, two self-published books and a self-titled album with international hip hop group MoneyKat. He is set to publish his debut novel "Here Come the Dogs" through Penguin Books in 2012/2013.

Omar Musa is best known for his political hip hop lyrics and his poems My Generation, Fireflies and CAPITAL LETTERS.

Early Life

Musa is the son of Australian arts journalist Helen Musa and Malaysian poet Musa bin Masran. 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.