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Teddy Yo: All Man, No Myth |
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Teddy Yo (full name Tewodros Assefa) |
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Teddy Yo, a young, vibrant rapper, has been making
the local magazine headlines for sometime now. The
rapper’s innovation in blending the Gurage melody
and beat with a contemporary hip-hop beat has been
appreciated by many. His trademark music, Guragetone
(including a track by that name), was a hit three
years ago, and he is now out with a new album. Very
soon he will be releasing more singles and later a
new project.
Teddy Yo (full name Tewodros Assefa) resides with
Eden, his wife of two years. He sometimes wears
inconspicuous clothes when he goes out that blend
into society and a baseball cap down low over his
eyes. He does this just so that he can get from
Point A to Point B without having a dozen
conversations along the way with fans and random
people who recognise him. He is the epitome of an
arada or an in-the-know Addis Abeban.
But after a one hour interview in a relaxed café, he
became a whole lot more. During the interview, he
talked about life, happiness and even history.
People love him, and he gets the encouragement to do
what he does from them, he said, but he had a bone
to pick with views held by some regarding Amharic
rap.
“Some people say rap is not good for our culture or
that it is not part of our tradition,” Teddy Yo
began.
He begged to differ. There is more in common with
Ethiopian tradition than some people think, he said.
For example, after kings of old, like Emperor
Tewodros, gathered their troops for battle, they
would basically freestyle rap to get the troops
ready for war in what is known as kererto and
shillella, he explained.
Read
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Ethio Rhythm Filtered , Fused |
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In January 2009, two French musicians with
the group Le bruit du [sign], Nicolas
Stephan and Sébastien Brun, came to Addis
Abeba to research the possibility of fusing
their contemporary jazz practices with the
traditional sounds of Ethiopia. They
embarked upon the work of writing new songs
with Melaku Belay, a traditional dancer,
based on the reflections of their
experiences. |
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Cool Breeze over Addis
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Turning down the gravel road across the road
from the gate to the Millennium Hall, if one
finds a large number of cars parked along
the path - its equivalent to a road sign
that would read “Live Music Ahead!” It is
the open parking space for Club Alizé,
housed in the same three-storey building as
the Red Bean Cafe. |
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American Musician, Kenny Allen Finds Home,
Inspiration in Ethiopia |
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Kenny Allen, who recently collaborated with
Ethiopian singer Jonny Ragga, performed in front of
more than 200 spectators on July 15, 2009, at the
Sheraton Addis Gas Light in a concert to launch his
album, entitled "The 251".
The concert took nearly two hours. Artist K'Alyn,
a.k.a. 'K', is an American musician who has lived in
Ethiopia for the last three and half years. His
initial objective was performing with the Mehari
Brothers, a band of four celebrities. Now performing
at a night club on African Avenue, close to the Bole
Ring Road Roundabout in Addis Ababa, called Harlem
Jazz, Kenny tells Fortune he was satisfied with the
concert and that he felt the performance had gone
exactly how he had imagined it. He started working
on his album entitled "The 251", named after the
country code for Ethiopia, before he came to the
country. |
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