Gaidaa

Found by a Kehlani cover. Heard by the world.

Gaidaa grew up in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, with Sudanese roots and a voice that did not belong to a single genre. In 2017, Dutch producer Full Crate discovered her through a Kehlani cover she had posted online — a discovery that led to "A Storm On A Summers Day" in 2018, now Full Crate's most-streamed track. Her 2020 debut EP "Overture" introduced her properly: eight tracks, including "Falling Higher" and "Stranger" featuring Saba and Jarreau Vandal. Pitchfork listened. The FADER listened. COLORS put her on their stage.

She works independently — no major label behind her, no shortcut that explains the reach. The catalog earns it. Her 2025 EP "YARN" continued building a body of work that sounds like R&B produced from a different emotional longitude than anything American. She sings in English. The Sudanese roots are in the phrasing, the patience, the way a note sustains longer than expected.

"My music comes from a place of wanting to connect — to share something deeply personal in a way that feels universal." — Gaidaa

Why she belongs here.

Gaidaa represents the breadth of what MENA means at this festival. She is Sudanese, not Arab — and that inclusion matters. The diaspora at OC MENA is not monolithic: it includes Egyptians, Palestinians, Moroccans, Lebanese, and also the broader African Muslim diaspora that shares history, language, and faith. Gaidaa is for all of them, and also for everyone else who has ever heard a voice this honest and needed to sit down.

What to expect.

A voice that does not need volume to command a room. Stripped-back, soulful, fully present. The kind of performance people are still talking about long after the festival ends.