A folk singer and bandleader from Sudan, Salim is one of the most well-known Sudanese singers in the West, having performed around the world and recorded in many nations including England. He was born in 1950s the village of Dilling, Kordofan province, surrounded by the Nuba Mountains in the west of Sudan.Salim trained in both European and Arabic music at the Institute of Music in Khartoum, beginning with Oud. By 1971, he changed from composing urban-styled music to country tunes.Seeking out traditional and colloquial songs to perform, Salim began in his native Kordofan and Darfur.

Rarely writing his own lyrics, the songs he finds range from politically-aware, educational arguments to love ballads. Salim is noted for maintaining a neutral repertoire that keeps him from irritating the Islamic government of Sudan. The international performer  was a headmaster of a school in Chad between at least the mid-1980s and the mid-2000s. In 2005, he recorded an album with, Sudanese rapper, former child soldier and, Christian convert, Emmanuel Jal called Ceasefire.