Mulatu Astatke is a legend
When the author heard Astatke's music, it was like listening to hip-hop for the first time.
Ethiopia
Rastafari and His Imperial Majesty
It's understandable that Rastafari aren’t critical about Haile Selassie, but the idealization of the monarch and Ethiopia in general can prevent critical analysis.
Israel calls them infiltrators
Meron Estefanos Meron speaks to us about her ongoing work with Eritrean refugees and migrants, many who live in Israel.
Escaping categorization
Ethiopian photographer Michael Tsegaye doesn't want to be pigeonholed. Neither does he want his country to be. So his art actively works against that.
The case of Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu
Last Friday, May 3, was World Press Freedom Day. Perhaps you may have missed it? On one hand, the Press Freedom Day parades, or sales, are far and few between. On the other hand, even the press doesn’t seem to care much about its colleagues’ freedom and well-being. Take the case of Ethiopian journalist, Reeyot […]
Vincent Moon’s Portraits of Ethiopian Music
Post by Addis Rumble * “Ethiopia is an island,” Vincent Moon explains. The French filmmaker has been on the road for four years now travelling and filming music and spiritual rituals across the globe and releasing them through his Petites Planètes label. 2012 saw him spending three months in Ethiopia exploring and recording Easter in Gonder […]
The spirit of Ethiopian culture
Roxsanne Dyssell's second in a series of interviews with young artists and creatives: Next: creative director and photoblogger,Metasebia Yoseph
Afcon 2013 Preview: Ethiopia finally back where they belong (including incredible archival footage)
Guest Post By Andreas Hansen for Addis Rumble* It has been a long time coming. The Ethiopian national team has been rare guest at the Africa Cup of Nations. In the years after the inaugural tournament in 1957 – in which only three teams took part and Ethiopia got a wild card to the final – the […]
Cape Town needs a visit from Anthony Bourdain
Foodyism and obscure ‘ethnic’ food are trendy these days. So, it is odd that South Africa hasn’t received more attention.
The women at the doorway
The photographer Aida Muluneh's work explores Ethiopia via identity, personal journey, and family nostalgia after a 30-year absence.
Friday Bonus Music Break, N°4
Five for the weekend. I haven’t done this in a while. First up Philadelphians Chill Moody (rapper) and Cody Kahmar with the music video for “My Eyes”:
The Jazz of Samuel Yirga Mitiku
I was in Dubai recently, working on a documentary, and on the way back to Cape Town I visited Ethiopia to see some friends and experience some of the Ethio-jazz music I had fallen in love with ever since I first heard Mulatu Astatke and the “Ethiopiques” compilations. Even though I had high hopes, Ethiopia […]
Women and rural gentrification in Ethiopia
Ethiopia forcibly relocates rural populations, often at gunpoint and never with any consultation, so the land can become "more productive."
Music Break. Meklit Hadero
Meklit Hadero (Ethiopia | US) – Singer + songwriter. Ethopian American singer, songwriter and recording artist working on bridging the Ethiopian Diaspora living in the United States with Ethiopians in Ethiopia, through her organization The Arba Minch Collective. 2012 TED Senior Fellows.
Music Break. Sayat Demissie
Ethiopian pop from this past summer. Sayat Demissie is a former beauty queen. Her decision to embark on an acting and singing career divides the Ethiopian blogosphere.
Red Hot Chili Peppers got lost in Ethiopia
The Red Hot Chili Peppers funk jam track Ethiopia came following “a life-changing trip Flea and Josh took to the African country.” Josh says: It was like a musical field trip. We had outings every day. It was like summer camp… and then Flea got lost and when he was lost, he went through a […]
The Real Maids of Beirut
The vast majority of domestic workers in the Middle East are migrant workers. A fair number are from Africa, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia.
Music Break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTRmpJ_EpJE Dub Colossus member Samuel Yirga “plays one night a week in Addis’s only jazz club/coffee bar, where the way he mixes Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock with Ethiojazz has won him a cult following.” He says: I take traditional music and turn it around, and people in Ethiopia are starting to listen to the […]
Fool's Gold
http://youtu.be/Es-SyYrpg2c Fool’s Gold’s “Surprise Hotel.” The group started as a side project of two young LA musicians, vocalist/bassist Luke Top and lead guitarist Lewis Pesacov, who set out to explore their shared love of various forms of African music (specifically Congolese, Ethiopean, Eritrean and Malian), Krautrock, and 80s dance influenced pop music. Via Charles Leonard: […]