„The simple fact that I am alive and making music proves that freedom is possible,“ says Jamal Ali

Jamal Ali is an Azerbaijani musician, satirist, and journalist whose work blends protest with performance. He fronts Gimme the Juice, an Afrobeat band mixing global grooves with political edge, and co-founded Insane, a spiky comic magazine taking aim at authoritarianism. Exiled for a satirical song about the president, he has since helped build independent media for Azerbaijan and its diaspora. Through music, comics, and storytelling, he gives voice to the silenced: pushing back, speaking out, and sparking dialogue across borders.

For Havel Channel, Ali talks with Ian Willoughby about the power of music and artistic expression, the impact of persecution on his personal life, and his band, Gimme the Juice.