Teddy Yo comes back with Oromoton and T-Reggae

By Alemayehu Seife-Selassie

Teddy Yo, the Ethiopian hip hop star that is best known for his hit single Gurageton, has come up with other unique hip hop singles, Oromoton and T-Reggae. As he finalizes the preparation of his songs that are scheduled to be released next week, The Reporter had a sneak peak. “Gurageton is a single that should have had lots of remixes, but I have not been asked to do a feature with other artists, except for Johnny Ragga.” Teddy Yo speaks how he has not managed to take the song further. “We have to mix our country’s beats with the West if we want to get international audience.” But despite not receiving any requests for a mixing, he has made a progress of his own. Teddy Yo has released a full hip hop album, Dimts Albaw Mesaria (silent weapon), Meringue Cha, and many more hits following his début single. But none of them has been a fusion of ethnic mix except Gurageton.

One of the major musical contributions to Gurageton is attributed to the music arranger FZ, and Teddy has used a new flavor in the latest fusion, Oromoton. The arrangement is attributed to a new music arranger, Kam Zu, and a new mixer by the name Peace. Ahmed Dimbi will feature on Oromoton.

Gurageton showed harmonious Amharic lyrics with a hip hop beat. In this début single, Teddy has chosen the fast Gurage beat for rapping. This time, however, his singles are tracked to the relatively slower Oromo beat and a northern Ethiopian Tigrigna that is known for using a similar drum beat for most of its songs. T-Reggae is the hip hop and reggae mixed beat that Teddy Yo played with Amharic and had a Tigrigna featuring.

Teddy Yo might be known for rapping in Amharic language more harmoniously than many others. But he considers himself as a Shilela (fast rhythm chant that is usually sung before going to battles) singer. The one thing that Teddy Yo believes is essential for the Ethiopian music is to follow a certain style and master it. “We cannot sing all musical genera. We have to select the one that we are best at. I really admire Aster Aweke, Mahmoud Ahmed, Johnny Ragga, Eyob Mekonnen and most Ethiopian cultural singers for mastering a particular style and singing it beautifully.” Teddy has sung Meringue Cha, which is a mix of meringue and hip hop. But he points out that he has paid due attention to his base, the hip hop style. “You can always have a featuring artist; Jay Z has played with the renowned rock band Linkin Park. But he was still rapping. I think we also need to stick to our style of signing,” he says.

Among the artists that Teddy appreciates the Somali rapper Kenan is one. But from those he would love to feature with, no one tops the list than Lil Wayne.

In a conservative country like Ethiopia, singing notorious genera such as hip hop will certainly raise eye brows. But Teddy Yo states that he was overwhelmed by the open arms that he was received with. “It is really exciting; most of the young audience and the not-so-young are very appreciative of my songs.” Adding a little humor in the rap, Teddy has made his songs quiet appealing to his audience.

“The story you tell really matters, if you are telling your own story, you are more likely to be accepted,” says Teddy explaining his secret to success. “I am rapping our own story, so I would personally hold a grudge against an Ethiopian audience that only listens to Western raps,” he teasingly remarked.

Teddy Yo has been invited to play at many colleges and high schools in Addis Ababa. But he says that his greatest fans are the youth in the different regions of Ethiopia. “Most of the phone calls I receive are from the regions.”

Teddy has released a musical album “Dimts Albaw Mesaria” (silent weapon) for which he did a video music clip. He states that the album is more popular in the different regions of Ethiopia he has toured. “There are times where I go to perform for a day in some regions, and I will end up having to stay and do more shows.” The solo concert that he staged in Mekelle is one example that the artist mentions. “I went there to perform a single show at the Tigray Circus Hall. But we ended up doing two shows at the Mekele University and another show at Milano Hotel. I am very grateful for the fans in Mekelle.”

Being an experimental artist, Teddy is open to try new genera. The recent Acacia Jazz Festival, in which Teddy Yo fused his rap with the renowned music arranger Abegazu Shiyota, is one example.

The weak copyright law in Ethiopia is one of the biggest challenges that artists face. Consequently many Ethiopian artists are refusing to release new albums. But Teddy Yo thinks that the major test for hip hop artists in Ethiopia is the limited availability of original copies in the market. “That is contributing to illegal duplications. I know when the people love something they spend everything on it. So I know they can afford to buy original copies. But I think most fans fail to notice the impact of illegal copies on the artists.” He adds, “This holds back our industry very much. If we do not get the benefits of our works, we will not have the money to have a full band or orchestra and do something better to go international.”

Teddy’s music video clips Gurageton, Mearingue Cha, Chaf Weraj Ale, Tew Tew, Dimts Albaw Mesaria and Tega Bey can be found on Youtube. The artist is preparing to send four of his selected music clips to Chanel O to have them played all over Africa.

Source: EthiopianReporter