Publication: Billboard [US]
Date: November 22, 1997
Section: Global Music Pulse
Length: 1015 Words
Title: ?
Written By: David Sinclair

SUDAN/EGYPT: Now a resident of Cairo, Egypt, where she is a tattoo artist known as the Queen Of Henna, the singer Setona comes from the most eastern part of Sudan. The area is at the crossroads between Africa and the East, a major trading route for centuries and one that has been traveled by thousands of Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca. This has produced a fascinating melting pot of African and Arabic musical influences in Setona's music, as displayed on her new album, "African Crossroads" (Blue Flame/BMG). Songs from around the continent became part of the collective memory of her people as the area was crisscrossed by various cultures. Accordingly, certain influences in Setona's music come from West African and East African countries she has never visited, prompting her at times to sing in languages she only half understands. Performing in public as a female musician has connotations of indecency in traditional Sudanese culture, so Setona was forced to move to Egypt, where she now enjoys a second career as a wedding consultant. She has become the leading expert in the typical henna tattoos, without which no traditional wedding ceremony is complete, hence her nickname. Earlier this year, she tattooed O{+> and his bride, Mayte.