Soon enough, we will have 3.5 million Kokebs in our crew, and when we do we will shake the world with our HEBRET spirit and 8 billion people how to do eskista::

by Teddy Fikre written: Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Eski, look up at the midnight sky. You see all the stars up in the heavens? That is the radiance of God shinning upon us the blessings of his essence.  Now, do you see the brightest Kokeb in the sky? Yes, the one that is twinkling more than the rest; that is the Kokeb called Ethiopia.  That was the very star that the three wise men followed to find our lord and savior Jesus in Bethlehem.  Nah, this is not blasphemy, I love God meto gena and everything that I do—in one way or another—is to praise him and be a testimonial for the blessings he has bestowed to me. Call this the lost 14^th book of the bible, I call it the book of Teddisho, and I am intent on spreading the shine of that Kokeb called Ethiopia throughout the world and have Ethiopia be the Japan of Africa.  Soon enough—in my lifetime—when we sneeze, the world will shiver and catch a cold.

Now in case you think that I am the only one hell bent on lassoing the Kokeb called Ethiopia and spreading her luster globally, let me introduce you to two DOPE brothers who are the stars behind Ethio Star.  They go by the name of Solo Yigzaw (what a great name) and Dawit Kiflu (Dawit bought down a Goliath Giant). I swear this just comes to me randomly, so let me make a random commentary, do you understand that Yigzaw means “let him buy” and Dawit freed his people by slaying a Giant—thus Solo and Dawit might be the two people that slay the Giant tyrant that is INERTIA that is killing Africa and in the process buy the world and in return feed starving children in Africa instead of colonial NGOs that drop rice from the skies.

This is why I am writing this article, because I see in Solo and Dawit the potential that we as a people.  This is why I love Ethiopia, because of Kings like Solomon and Dawit.  Wey gud, another random commentary, I just realize that Solomon is the one man loved and blessed more than anyone by God and Dawit was his father who became the first King of Kings.  God damn this is too deep! Seriously, Solomon and David could deliver Ethiopia from our collective coma and in the process eradicate the ills of Africa.  I know what you are thinking; I place too much on their chest and hype them up before they have done anything.  But this here is not hype; this is a prophecy straight out of the book of Teddisho, what I say will happen in time.  The tongue has the ability to move mountains if we stand on faith meto gena—I am standing on my faith in these two kings who walk in our midst.

So what do these guys do you ask? Well they are two of the DOPEST promoters in DC and they have a Productions company by the name of EthioStar Productions.  Sigh, here is what is about to transpire upon me typing that in the mind of some unbeliever in DC:

“Teddy you are such a hypocrite, first you say you are not a promoter, two months later you start promoting parties.  Then you say promoters in DC don’t believe in HEBRET, now three months later—with such unmitigated audacity—you have the nerve to call two promoters the next Kings of Ethiopia! You sir are IBD and I need to stop following you because you are coo coo!”

Wey tata, why is it that I attract such visceral reaction from my own people? Is it because I am not in the circle or part of the clique? In any case, let me debunk that bunk that some people were thinking.  First off, I have nothing against promoters, I love them to death. If I rail at them in public, it is because I know the power they hold in their flyers and the strength they yield through their parties.  If the Habesha promoters came together in a moment of HEBRET and organized our people, Obama would stand in line and do eskista to beg for our votes. If the promoters in DC thought on a bigger scale, Mahmoud Ahmed would be singing at the White House instead of singing at restaurants.  This is why I too am now a promoter, not to throw parties but to make this vision become reality.

But you see, EthioStar thinks like me, they understand the power they yield in their hands. They were Brown Condor before Brown Condor because their parties have a purpose—that purpose being to bridge the gap between Ethiopians and African-Americans.  Before it was hip to promote Ethiopian parties to African-Americans—because too many Habeshas only stay in their lanes and their myopic cliques—EthioStar had the audacity to do something different and promote our culture to African-Americans.   In a culture that disavows risk, teaches us as children to fit into place and to not speak too loud, EthioStar speaks loudly and is not afraid to take risks—this is why I love their concept and support them meto gena eko::

You have seen the logo of EthioStar Entertainment on almost every big Ethiopian event or concert from ESFNA to Helen Berhe tours and Teddy Afro concerts or annual Labor Day bash concerts. They are in short order ubiquitous (means everywhere), they planted a mustard seed based on pure audacity and in a few years have grown to be a mighty oak that I am trying to duplicate.  What, you thought that Brown Condor is original? Hell no, I am the biggest Somali Pirate ever; I have taken more ideas from more people and made it my own with a dash of my ingenuity.  But not even my brian power could ever duplicate the shine that is EthioStar eko::
The CEO and founder of EthioStar Entertainment is Dawit Kiflu (Facebook name is Dawit EthioStar Kiflu) and his partner is Solomon Yigzaw, better known as Solo Yigzaw on Facebook.  These two are actually first cousins but they are more like brothers; Dawit and Solomon where born in Ethiopia and migrated to the US in 1990. While Solomon played football for all 4 years and was the popular kid in school, Dawit was the cool laid back one; he was—like me—a nerd while jocks got all the attention.  But unlike me, Dawit did not try to hide intellect for the sake of acceptance; he enrolled in all AP classes and popped his collars 20 years before I even put on that Habesha shirt named audacity.  As different as Dawit and Solo were—a jock and a nerd—they build a friendship based on love and acceptance and built upon that rock a partnership that is stronger than titanium. 

This is how foundations of businesses are built, not on flyby associates who would never extend a hand to help you out of a ditch but based on eternal friendship that will forgive and forebear much as friends stay with you when others flee you at the first sight of hardship.  So one day, these two DOPE friends had an idea, why not form an entertainment company that is built on the foundation of Habesha but that will extend its wings to co-opt other communities into our culture.  Stop right here, doesn’t this sound familiar? Isn’t this what I have been preaching since 2008? Right it does meto gena, I just hope Dawit and Solo don’t sue my Qit off for taking their idea—why do you think I am writing this article to get on their good side new eko::

And thus they set out to do just that, event after event, one DOPE concert or party at a time, they spread their infectious smile and musika throughout DC and beyond and block by block—before Obama uttered the words “Yes We Can”—Dawit and Solo were screaming “Yichalal” and highlighting the beauty of our customs to the world.  Lil Wayne knows about Eskista because of EthioStar, Nikki Minaj knows about Guraginya, Drake knows about Kitfo, my God, what I have been striving to do since 2008 EthioStar has  been doing all along.  Ey yo Dawit and Solo, I bet you I am going to beat you to the White House though Wendems and I will be the one to teach Obama to do eskista! But you beat me to the punch by bringing Lil’Wayne to DC and renting out a whole club for his party—damn really! You beat me to the punch by bringing Drake to DC and renting out the whole of Beza night club on January 2^nd, 2010—uggggg y’all don’t fight fair, ende I don’t have a DOPE wendem like you two on my side thus I fly “Solo”. 

But all good things come to those people who wait with Tigist.  After years of anger and hurt, I have been blessed by God with Tigist and I know one day soon I too will have a DOPE wendem by my said who will be my business partner—ere Teddisho, you have one eko, my brother Million and this good fella by the name of Mastewal Sebro eko::  Hell, to be honest, those two wendems might end up being Solo ena Dawit, and when we form a collaboration—when we decide to form a collaborative effort by the name of HEBRET—oh man watch out DC and Addis, we will be a motley crew that will grab the globe, spin her on our etats as we give her a tenth of our nefse, and when we are done, we would have made Ethiopia the Japan of the world.  Ere teyalachew, we are just beginning, with EthioStar lighting my path and my soul, I can accomplish anything and so will my children.

God bless you Solo and the future child you are bringing into this world. God bless you and your fiancée, she is a lucky one because she found a great man of God.  And dude you are lucky because it is hard to find a diamond in a continent of cow manure—you managed  to find yourself an Ethiopian jegna who will never get mad at you because you broke her gebena nor will she leave you for another man’s gursha.  When you have a woman like that—when you find your Genet (damn I love Ethiopian names, wonder what Teddy means) and with her you will have a holiday for the rest of your life bro. Just look at the way she looks at you with loving eyes and you will see in her blen the face of God in her voice you will forever hear the song of selam and tigist as long a you hold her with selam and tigist for the rest of your life::

Oh one last thing, Solish—yene wendem—melkam lidet King Solomon, thank you for all the wise words you imparted to me in private moments and lifting me up while others were stepping on my neck.  I will forever remember your kindness and take your soul to my grave, if ever God blesses me with a son, I will name him Solomon and you will know that he is named after you and the Solomon in the bible.  Always keep your humility and your gentle soul; it is hard being us, in our community we are judged for our height, our weight, our hair, our eyes before they ever take the time to know us. I once judged you too—yeah I know, whenever I blast people for being assholes it is because I am judging myself first.  Forgive me as I say Yikirta and trust me I will be there on April 7^th to celebrate your birthday at Mood Lounge and if you let me, I will get on the mic and sing happy birthday—you know I will end up plugging BC Radio if you do aydel::

So come out come all on April 7^th to Mood lounge in DC and take part in honoring the essence that is EthioStar.  How do you get there you ask? Well look up in the sky, you will see a bright star called EthioStar, make like the wise men and get on a camel and get on 395 to our Bethlehem in DC called 9^th St.  Then follow the Kokeb with tigist and as soon as you hear the musika, you will know you have arrived at EthioStar.  Right, you won’t do that aydel, well in that case Google “Mood Lounge” and come over on April 7^th to party with us, we might claim to be Ethiopian stars but really our stars only get brighter the more stars that become one of us.  Soon enough, we will have 3.5 million Kokebs in our crew, and when we do we will shake the world with our HEBRET spirit and 8 billion people how to do eskista. All this started by two wise men by the name of Dawit and Solomon, poetic isn’t it? Essentially, EthioStar is our “Kokeb” that will set us free.  Peace!

“There was my name up in lights. I said, ‘God, somebody’s made a mistake.’ But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, ‘Remember, you’re not a star.’ Yet there it was up in lights.” ~Marilyn Monroe

[click to hear Kokeb musika from the 1950s]

[click to wish Solo a Melkam Lidet]

FEATURE EVENT

[click to RSVP to Solo's birthday bash, please be the 3.5 millionth kokeb eko]

[click to RSVP as we honor Kuku Sebsebe at Bati Restaurant & Lounge on Thursday, March 29th at 9PM sharp]

FEATURE BUSINESS

[click to hear, see, and taste Bati Restaurant, the best Ethiopian food in the DMV hands down]

[click to see and taste Sidamo Coffee & Tea, stop going to rapers of Africa (Starbucks) and support our own]

AUTHOR

Teddy Fikre

[click to view profile & follow him on twitter @browncondor]

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