Brittney Denise Parks, better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, is an American

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, singer, and songwriter based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Parks learned to play the violin by ear as a young child in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Signed to

Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. ''LA Weekly'' ...

, Parks has released two studio albums to date: ''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

'' (2019) and '' Natural Brown Prom Queen'' (2022). She won two

Libera Awards The Libera Awards are an annual awards ceremony organized by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). First hosted in 2012, the awards celebrate the independent music community. The capstone of A2IM's Indie Week, an annual music busi ...

in 2023, for Best Breakthrough Artist/Release and Best R&B Record.

Early life

Sudan Archives was born Brittney Denise Parks in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio. She began playing violin in fourth grade, learning by ear. Parks' stepfather worked at the Atlanta-based record label

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

, and he encouraged her to form a pop duo called N2 with her twin sister, Cat. However, Parks realized that she would rather not be in a band. She stated, "I felt stifled – it wasn't good for my creativity. All through high school I was a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. I never stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance and I didn't sit with anyone at lunch. I just wanted to get out." After attending several late-night

raves A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

, Parks felt inspired to follow her own musical inclinations and left home for Los Angeles at age nineteen. Of the raves, she said that "Watching those artists, I realised that I didn't need to be in a band. I could do this by myself. My parents told me I couldn't live with them if I kept going out. So I left." Parks studied

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. It originally o ...

, while attending the experimental club night

Low End Theory Low End Theory was a weekly experimental hip hop and electronic music club night that took place every Wednesday from 2006 to 2018 at The Airliner in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California. History Low End Theory was founded in 2006 by produ ...

and working on her own musical material on her

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

. Embarking on a journey "to show the Blackness of the violin," Parks studied the history of violin performers across different cultures, noting: "I found violinists who looked like me in Africa, playing it so wildly. It's such a serious instrument in a western concert setting, but in so many other places in the world it brings the party."

Career

2017–2021: Early releases and ''Athena''

Sudan Archives released her self-titled debut EP in 2017 and followed it with the ''Sink'' EP in 2018. The EP's lead single, "Nont for Sale", ranked as one of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

''s favorite songs in May 2018. Parks released her debut studio album, ''

'', the following year. The album received widespread critical acclaim from publications such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', which said it contained "some of the most viscerally gorgeous music put to record", ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'', which commended Parks for her "knack for writing massive hooks that will dig straight into your brain", ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', which described ''Athena'' as "innovative, unusual and inviting", and many more.

2022–present: ''Natural Brown Prom Queen''

On March 16, 2022, Parks returned with "Home Maker", her first new track in three years and the first single from her second studio album, '' Natural Brown Prom Queen''. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' made it one of their Best New Tracks and described it as Parks' "most approachable yet, a swaggering statement of intent with all the idiosyncratic charm that makes her music so memorable". Parks headlined the Stones Throw showcase at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

the following day. On September 9, 2022, ''Natural Brown Prom Queen'' was released to widespread critical acclaim, with Parks noting of the album's variety: "It felt like time to let people know who I am. My stage name is kind of academic and on ''Athena'', I created this thoughtful persona centred on divine Black femininity. Now I want to show my looseness, too. I'm a deep, insightful person, but I'm also fucking silly." In 2023, Sudan Archives won two

, for Best Breakthrough Artist/Release and Best R&B Record.

Musical style and influences

Sudan Archives has taken inspiration from a variety of African musicians, including Cameroonian electronic musician

Francis Bebey Francis Bebey (, 15 July 1929 in Douala, Cameroon – 28 May 2001 in Paris, France) was a Cameroonian musicologist, writer, composer, and broadcaster. Early life Francis Bebey was born in Douala, Cameroon, on July 15, 1929. Bebey attended college ...

and Sudanese violinist Asim Gorashi. She is also inspired by Irish music. When performing, Sudan Archives sometimes uses electronic effects pedals and electronic beats and has also performed in a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

Personal life

Parks has a

twin sister Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

named Cat, with whom she was briefly part of a pop duo called N2. Parks lives in

, and as of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

has been dating James McCall, better known by the stage names Nocando and All City Jimmy. Parks and McCall built a home studio together in her basement, where she recorded her second studio album, ''Natural Brown Prom Queen''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2019) * '' Natural Brown Prom Queen'' (2022)

EPs

* ''Sudan Archives'' (2017) * ''Sink'' (2018)

Singles

* "Water" (2017) * "Nont for Sale" (2018) * "Confessions" (2019) * "Glorious" (2019) * "Confessions (Velvet Negroni Remix)" (2020) * "Glorious (Nídia Remix)" (2020) * "Home Maker" (2022) * "Selfish Soul" (2022) * "DEAD" (2025)

References

External links

*
Sudan Archives
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

*
NPR Tiny Desk concert

''The New Yorker'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archives, Sudan Living people Musicians from Cincinnati 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American women singers Stones Throw Records artists 21st-century American singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Ohio Pasadena City College alumni Twin musicians 1994 births Libera Award for Best Breakthrough Artist winners