Hip Hop Meets Ethiopian Eskista

by Teddy Fikir

I did not think it was possible, that a rapper could capture the energy and exuberance that Ethiopians feel when listening to Ethiopian music and capture it through Hip Hop. Sure, Ethiopians love Hip Hop like any other community does—after all, Hip Hop has become universal. But the truth is that Hip Hop is loved by younger Ethiopians, the older generation, for the most part, is not too keen to Hip Hop. Ethiopians that are in their 40s or older mostly listen to Ethiopian music, even modern day Ethiopian musicians who deviate from the norm are not too adored by the older generation.

I remember once seeing a youtube clip of Ellias Fullmore—the first Ethiopian rapper that I knew of—back around 2002 at an Ethiopian event. He grabbed the mic and was lacing the place with some fierce hip hop lyrics, and the audience of Ethiopians was almost oblivious to Ellias’s performance. Most were carrying on small talk amongst themselves, the rest were curious on lookers who were mostly listening out of sheer oddity then they were out of fascination. I remember thinking at the time I saw the youtube clip that Ethiopians—as a whole—would not adapt to Ethiopian Hip Hop. I think we are a community driven on conservation, where we hold on to the “traditional” aspects of our culture and abhor something new until that something new becomes a part of our tradition. Mahmoud and Tilahun are cornerstones of our musical culture now, but when they first introduced a new form of Ethiopian music influenced by Jazz, they too were seen as social pariahs until they—and their new style of Ethiopian music—was embraced by the masses.

Flash forward to 2008, I am attending the Ethiopian soccer tournament. We were there mostly to register voters for the 2008 election, but I was able to take the occasional break and enjoy the cultural bonanza that is the ESFNA soccer tournament. Of course I had my fill of injera, the people, and most of all, the highlight of the event; I was given an onstage pass by my friends from ESFNA to watch the main concert. I thought the most memorable moment was going to be the chance I would have to meet Kuku Sebsebe, a singer I had a crush on when I was seven years old in Ethiopia. And of course, having the chance to listen to Tilahun for the last time will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. I was almost emotional when I saw Mahmoud pushing Tilahun in a wheelchair and they performed a song together. These moments are memories that will stay in my mind forever.

But let me tell you about one other experience that literally blew my mind. Before the main show with Tilahun and Mahmoud was about to start, I was told that a rapper by the name of Mike-E would be performing on the main stage. I felt a tinge of nervousness for Mike-E, I had flashbacks of watching the youtube clip where a bunch of disinterested Ethiopians were having small talk. I scanned the audience in the stadium and a lot of those in attendance were too old to appreciate hip hop, I started to pray that this guy would not have his feelings hurt by the indifference of the crowd.

All the sudden, the beats—combining traditional Ethiopian music with a dose of Hip Hop beat—hit the stadium like a Tsunami aftershock. I started to nod my head to the infectious sounds, and to my amazement, the audience was doing the same. All the sudden Mike-E came out and started to rap, and he was not rapping about inane things like money and misogyny, he was rapping about Ethiopia, our culture, and our history. I was captivated, and to my utter shock, so was the whole stadium. He literally forced everyone to get on their feet and jump to his words—the sense of pride I felt at that time seeing the stadium seats rocking as Ethiopians were dancing to Hip Hop lyrics that talked about our people and our culture in a positive light was astounding.

I guess things have changed, 8 years later, Ellias—in collaboration with Bsheba, AP, Wayna, and Gabriel—released a full out Hip Hop album called Andromeda that is one of my favorite Hip Hop albums. Ethiopian rappers have become a part of our culture and our tradition, it might take us a little bit of time to embrace change, but when we do, we embrace it as part of our own. Ethiopian rappers such as Mike-E have taken Hip Hop and transformed the Ethiopian music scene, much the same way that Mahmoud and Tilahun did 40 years ago. I guess it was fitting that I got to see Tilahun perform for the last time while seeing Mike-E perform for the first—I guess it was the passing of a torch. This torch will shine the way forward for Ethiopian music for decades to come.



Article First Posted on browncondor.com
By Teddy Fikir