Tag: Ethiopian Hip Hop
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Bars For Change Mixtape
By Dagem Teferra This mixtape was made with the theme of political and social impact in Africa and the diaspora. It includes tunes from Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and the USA. In each song, the artist expresses either a social, ecological or political problem that occurs in their community. As hip-hop is an important tool
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Bringing Ethiopian Vibrancy to the COLORS Stage
Alewya was born in Saudi Arabia raised in Sudan then relocated to the United Kingdom. Although her upbringing was highly diverse the Ethiopian roots of her mother have still shone through in her childhood. This is expressed through her most recent single entitled “Ethiopia”. She was given the opportunity to perform this song on the
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Teddy Yo arrested after releasing new music video
By Dagem Teferra The well-known Ethiopian rapper Teddy Yo recently released a song entitled “Wenberish” that landed him in jail within a day from the original drop on YouTube. The self-proclaimed originator of Ethiopian Hip-Hop, Teddy Yo is seen in his new music video in a prison jumpsuit getting interrogated while his head is dumped underwater by
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Meet Kassmasse, the star lighting up Ethiopia with his new ‘perspective’
Fikru Sema (stage name: Kassmasse) is the hottest young artist in the Hip Hop scene of Ethiopia. His sudden rise to fame came two years ago in 2021 with the release of his first EP called ‘Maleda’. Kassmasse quickly became a point of intrigue for me when I learned that we had gone to the
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Skat Nati’s “Sira” and how he depicts success as an ethiopian man
Being a Black man in the world is not an easy task. Even when having the darkest of skin doesn’t make you the minority, it doesn’t make life any easier. Skat Nati, an Ethiopian rapper who rose to stardom primarily from his massively popular song, “Sira,” makes this fact of life even clearer to those
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RESPECT HER “Akberat”- Nina Girma
Nina Girma is a female artist in Ethiopia who has had many features on popular songs. Her popularity has been rising recently as she featured on “Yetale Aleqa” with Yared Negu in 2019 which reached over 2 million views on Youtube. She has performed on Seifu on EBS which could be considered as an equivalent
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Ras Nebyu: Diasporic “Uptown Lion Walking”
Ras Nebyu (born Mebraknegodguwad Mahtemework) is a DC-based artist who identifies as part of the Ethiopian diaspora. Although Nebyu was born and raised in America, he grew up with his Ethiopian father and grandmother, and was exposed throughout his life to Ethiopian culture through the greater diaspora in DC. Nebyu’s identity within the diaspora is
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Lola Monroe’s “Grime”
Lola Monroe, or “Queen Roe”, is an artist who has been steeped in hip hop culture long before she first picked up a mic. The Addis Ababa born, DC raised emcee first got her start in hip hop as a “video vixen” in the early and mid 2000s, when she appeared in music videos for
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“All hip hop is local”: Teddy Yo’s Gurageton
Teddy Yo’s 2007 hit single “Gurageton” serves as a great example of the phrase “all hip hop is local” and demonstrates how African emcees strive for hip hop authenticity. Teddy Yo is a veteran to the Ethiopian hip hop scene; he is self-taught, began making music in the early 2000s, and continues to be a
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Skat Nati’s “Sira”
A rising star on the Ethiopian hip hop scene, Skat Nati is a young artist whose popular 2018 song ስራ “Sira” has made him tough to overlook. The sound, lyrics, and imagery in the “Sira” music video exemplify the extent to which hip hop has become so globalized in recent years, given the meteoric rise