Growing up between Virginia and Qatar, Sudanese American R&B singer Safa Elzbir, who goes by the artist name Safa” always participated in school choir. Inspired by the Arabic music that her parents would play, breaking into R&B — what she called “obviously an American genre” — never crossed her mind.
After Elzbur graduated from NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in 2024, her most listened to song “Slide” received over 120,000 plays on Spotify. She was featured on shows like “On the Radar,” which has previously hosted artists including Drake and Ice Spice, and performed as a backup singer alongside Mustafa on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series in September — a video that gained over 110,000 views on Youtube.
In an interview with WSN, Elzbir discussed her journey from a medical school dreamer to a budding R&B artist.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What inspired you to become a singer?
Elzbir: I grew up in the Middle East, so I listened to a lot of music that incorporated the chromatic scale. The Arabic music that my family played definitely informed some of the melodic choices I have in my music. I had an affinity for writing and so I would write stories and poems a lot. Eventually, as I began to consume more music, I turned those poems into songs and I started writing music.
As a first-generation college student, building a career in music was not on Elzbir’s radar. She arrived at NYU on its prehealth track, with goals of pursuing a stable future in the medical field. However, she felt a calling to pursue her passion for music and on a whim, transferred into Clive Davis.
Growing up inspired by Ariana Grande’s music, Elzbir said she learned how to sing by studying the pop star’s recordings. She first started posting songs on SoundCloud, inspired by her own experiences, stories of her friends and the films that she watched. Throughout her time at Clive Davis, she worked a part-time job to pay her production team out of pocket — often earning little compensation for her performances — while connecting with industry professionals and peers who supported her career.
In 2023, Elzbir performed at the NYU Program Board’s annual mystery concert, which later landed her as the supporting act on her fellow performer, TisaKorean’s tour.
WSN: How did Clive Davis shape you as an artist?
Elzbir: When I first started making music, I thought it was just about making music. I thought that’s what it was: The artist’s voice and their pen is what made them an artist. But going to Clive, I learned about brand identity, marketing, team, rolling out projects and choosing who to collaborate with. These were all things I was completely unfamiliar with because I had been DIY-ing everything myself.
While working on her top hit “Slide,” Elzbir said she learned how to better connect with her audience and cater to their musical tastes, and saw the power that her music has to uplift fans. She described herself as a “grassroots” artist, allowing her to interact with people directly.
Elzbir has uniquely incorporated cultural sounds in her music, such as blending the Arabic chromatic scale with R&B. She aims to explore fusing musical influences unfamiliar to her and challenge herself to create unique melodies.
She said her previous performance with Mustafa was a way to represent her heritage, adding that the music industry is not always inclusive to all ethnic backgrounds. She is set to perform at a fundraiser concert for Sudan, where her parents immigrated from, later this month.
WSN: Are you confident you made the right career decision?
Elzbir: You can’t really be in this field and not wholeheartedly believe in yourself and believe in what you’re doing. Because at that point, what you are investing into it just is not even worth it. I know there will be that moment where everything will make sense and it will be worth it for me, and I don’t really plan to stop until I have that moment. I understand what my music is doing for people because I already know what it does for me — so it’s already worth it to me.
Contact Kaitlyn Sze Tu at [email protected].
