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TEDDY YO’S TOP FIVE MODERN ETHIOPIAN ALBUMS
ETHIOPIAN CULTURE A R T S
Addis-born hip-hop star Teddy Yo (real name Tewodros Assefa) is the face of young cosmopolitan Ethiopia. He started rapping at the age of 14, but didn’t turn heads until he took traditional Gurage music and combined it with contemporary hip-hop beats and lyrics to create his own musical style, Guragetone (which is also the name of his most famous song). Today he is Ethiopia’s best known hip-hop performer. His latest album is 2012’s Zeraf. We asked him to give us his essential list of modern Ethiopian music. Yachi Neger by Ja Lude; this is real reggae and the music is full of messages. Kulfun Sechin by Joni Ragga; another great reggae album. Ende Kal by Eyob; the lyrics are powerful and are full of messages for the young. Zeritu by Zeritu Kebede; she introduced modern rock to Ethiopia. Tizeta by Mehamoud Ahemed; he has the voice.
long, with four holes, and makes a bubbling sound that is said to imitate running water. It’s supposed to keep the herds close by and calm the animals.
KEBRA NEGAST
Modern Music
For a full translation of the Kebra Negast, check out www.sacred-texts. com/chr/kn/.
Ethiopian modern music is diverse and affected by outside influences, and ranges from classical Amharic to jazz and pop. Modern classical singers and musicians include the late Assefa Abate, Kassa Tessema and the late female vocalist Asnakech Worku. The composer Mulatu Astatike is well known for his Ethiojazz. Amharic popular music boasts a great following with the young. Unlike many other African countries, it’s generally much preferred to Western music, and can be heard in all the larger towns’ bars and discos. Among the best known is Tewodros Kassahun (‘Teddy Afro’) whose political album Yaasteseryal, which was released in 2005 during a time of heightened political tension following disputed elections, got him on the wrong side of the government, but sent his popularity sky-rocketing. Four songs from the album were eventually banned by the government. His latest album is Tikur Sew. Ethiopian rap is massively popular among the young in all the big Ethiopian towns. Like many forms of artistic expression in Ethiopia most performers use a certain amount of self-censorship when it comes to rapping about domestic politics, and in general Ethiopian rap seems fairly nonpolitical when compared to some Western rap artists. Current leaders of the Ethiopian rap race are Teddy Yo and the upcoming Yoni Yoyi, whose best-known song is the brilliantly catchy ‘Gondergna’. Female artists more than hold their own. Gonder-born, Americanbased Aster Aweke has produced 20 albums since the late 1970s. She’s popularly known as Africa’s Aretha Franklin. Her latest release is 2010’s Checheho. Hot on Aster’s tail for international fame is Ejigaheyehu Shibabaw (known as ‘Gigi’), who rose to prominence after her 1997 album Tsehay. Her singing was heard in the Hollywood movie Beyond Borders. Her latest album is Mesgana Ethiopia. One of the biggest female stars at the moment is Zeritu Kebede (also known as ‘Baby’). Francis Falceto, an Ethiopian music expert, compiles popular Ethiopian contemporary music into great CDs known as ‘Ethiopiques’. Twenty-seven volumes have been produced to date; pick them up from www.budamusique.com.
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