Posted by ecadforumEthiopian News, News, PopularFriday, April 27th, 2012
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by Samuel Getachew
The Huffington Post
A noted blogger was once asked to describe music by a certain Ethiopian musician after hearing it for the first time. He explained his first reaction as feeling as if he [had] died and returned from the dead. He said it took him on a journey of “deep bass, some jazz/rock funk mixed with Ethiopian melody (tizita) from a distance future.”
Tewodrose Kassahun (a.k.a. Teddy Afro)
This is a wonderful compliment for music that has yet to be discovered by the rest of world. The fact is that Ethiopian music has been undiscovered partly because Ethiopia was never a colony of the outside world. While there have been superstar Ethiopian artists such as Mohamud Ahmed and Aster Aweke, their success remained within Ethiopia and did not translate onto the international market.
The young and gifted Ethiopian artist Tewodrose Kassahun (a.k.a. Teddy Afro) might just be the one who can help introduce Ethiopian music to the world. His latest CD, which is entitled Tikur Sew (Black person), is perhaps the most anticipated, controversial and scrutinized album in Ethiopian music history. In just one week, it sold well over a million copies and took Ethiopian social media by storm.
The CD has 11 tracks and includes songs arranged by the Ethiopian Japanese producer, Abegaz Kibrework Shiwota as well as the artist himself. Teddy Afro’s music is an anthem of many causes and among them is black power, African pride, love, country, and relationships are some of the themes. In the title track — Tikur Sew — he pays homage to an Ethiopian famous Battle of Adwa and its hero Emperor Menelik II in Amharic as well as in Oromiffa.