Posts tagged Ethiopian Singer

With his voice and my pen, we will light up the world with our kibrit talent and transform the world into a Vahe different place::

by Teddy Fikre  written: Hamus, March 1st, 2012

Man today was just like any other day.  I woke up from a night of partying at Babylon with DJ Banti worldwide, got a cup of buna, smoked a cig and proceeded to promote BC Radio for an hour or so before heading out to the office.  Of course, I do as I always do, using King Kong marketing meto gena always and Somali pirating people’s Facebook statuses (or is that stati) to make someone laugh first…then…BAM…spam their status update with advertisement for BC Radio.  But they laugh it off and then get super amped when I give them a shout out LIVE on the air.  Next thing you know, they are updating their Facebook status with a shout out to BC Radio. 

This tactic is how I have gotten a self-funded radio station into the conscience of a hundred thousand Ethiopians in America and back home.  Now grant it, my Somali hijack status tactics are not always appreciated.  Shit, some of the very singers that I put on WPGC and elevated their careers have yet to thank me for my hustle as a thousand Ethiopians who I have not done anything for thank me profusely for shouting them out on twitter.  Such is life I guess, you are ignored by those who you do the most for and celebrated by those who you do the least for.  This lesson I am learning over and over again and this lesson was further fortified when I met someone Vahe different today on Facebook.

You see, as I promoted a particular singer and gave her a block of time on BC Radio, she was indifferent and came off cold as a two ton beredo, yet one of her friends noticed my Somali hijack moves and me and him started to go back and forth on her status updates—neither one knowing the other from Adam.  All I know is that we were cracking each other up while the original poster of the status ignored me like it was 2009 at Busboys and Poets all over again.  All the sudden I get a friend request, the same fella that I was bantering with now became my friend on Facebook.  This is where I stop my gripe about people who are indifferent to me and introduce you to this fella::

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Vahe Tilbian!

Who? Who the hell is Vahe? Oh man, until today, I did not know who he was either.  When Vahe figured out that I had a radio station, he forwarded me a couple of his songs.  What I proceeded to hear over the next 30 minutes transported me back to Bole and tickled my ears as though Venus herself was licking me with her Goddess tongue.  I spilled my buna as Vahe spilled a macchiato straight into my heart while crooning Tizita. Let me tell you something about that song Tizita. Tizita is a rite of passage for any aspiring Ethiopian singer, one who doesn’t know the words to Tizita and proports to be an Ethiopian singer is akin to an Ethiopian restaurant serving kitfo with French bread instead of injera—in other words nothing Ethiopian about both.  But as trite as Tizita is for most Ethiopians, for me, there are only three people who sang Tizita the way I like it and the rest are just dekama tizita:: 1) Mahmoud 2) Kuku 3) Wubeshet (RIP) That’s it, that is the list.

So when I opened up the link Vahe sent me and the first song I saw was Tizita, I felt like defriending him ASAP and deleting the email.  But wait—I told myself—let me give this fella a chance.  I clicked play and I heard his voice, a mix of John B and Mahmoud—Jesus Christ I died and returned from the dead three days later.  This guy Vahe transformed the oldest song known to mankind, mixed it with deep bass and some jazz/rock funk and delivered to me a tizita from the distant future.  I could not wrap my mind around it all—I was lost and found, I was confused and gained clarity, I was blind but all seeing, I was oxymoronic with it. 

To be honest, 5 hours later I am still singing Tizita while listening to Vahe croon it.  I don’t get it, I don’t understand it, I can’t believe that a dude I just met off Facebook just this morning has somehow bumped himself onto my top three Tizita list and now I have a top four.  It is not fair, Mahmoud worked for a lifetime to get radio personnel like me to notice them.  Meanwhile, Vahe sends me one track from Ethiopia via Facebook to Alexandria and all the sudden I am his biggest fan.  You see, this is the power of Facebook and Twitter, while some utilize the most powerful weapon in the history of mankind by updating their status about what kind of yogurt they are eating, I see the social network for what it is—an atomic weapon that, when utilized correctly, can make those in the lowest of caste systems the most powerful voice on the earth.  That is my aim, I plan on utilizing this social network for a benefit.  I plan on leveraging my God given talents to help others and in return they help me and when I do that for enough people, their collective network of friends will give me such a powerful voice that when I say Tadias the world will say Selam back.  And I plan on using this voice to give voice to the voiceless and to give hope to the hopeless. 

But today, it was Vahe that said Tadias to me and it was I that bowed and said selam to him.  So who is this Vahe fella? Well what if I told you he is not Ethiopian.  Well let me restate that, he is not of Ethiopian descent but he is more Ethiopian than a lot of buna sipping habeshoch I know (someone told me that I will lose followers if I keep insulting my own people, but hey I am not about to sell my soul for the sake of seeking fame). Anyway, Vahe is actually of Armenian descent.  Vahe was born and raised in Ethiopia and his interest in music started early—after all, he was born into a family of musicians.  When he was barely old enough to walk, Vahe used to attend rehearsals of his uncle and aunt’s band, the Sevan Band.  Maybe music was in his genes or maybe music infected his synapses by osmosis.  From tiny seeds mighty oak trees grow; nourished by tender loving care and a melody of Fiker, Vahe began to fill in his lungs the nefse of harmony. 

In high school, Vahe started to expand his talent and started choreographing for Latin, Hip-Hop and other contemporary music routines for both solo and group solos.

BREAK!

Wait wait, I thought you said that Vahe emailed you from Addis dekama! Your story is breaking apart, this is bullshit I knew it—this is another bullshit story Teddiye, the story about the supposed musician who ignored you on 09.25.09 is probably bullshit too.  Ante leba neh, you damn con man Teddiye!

Ummm, back to the program.  Yes Vahe is in Addis and Addis is not the same Addis that I left 30 years ago apparently.  While there is much to be desired, the fact is that Ethiopia has caught up to the 21^st century.  They have internet, they have tall buildings, and they have all the trappings of Washington DC.  Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by that troll above; Vahe has literally changed the way that I conceptualize Ethiopian music.  After attending University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada (no Samuel Getachew, you cannot claim Vahe as one of your own mozaza) he started to delve full time into the artistic world.  He started competing in Latin Ballroom dancing competitions and solo dancing gigs in America and Canada.  After a couple of more years, Vahe decided to head back home—he went back to Ethiopia like the way we all should.

In August 2010, Vahe decided to dedicate Meto Gena (yes that is 100% no matter what yall say) of his energy to singing.  He started to perform with the band Z Beyaynetus after receiving encouragement from Bitik Emlaelu.  From that moment on, Vahe has skyrocketed.  Considering that our culture and our minds are not very open to outsiders—considering that we are about as accepting of non-Ethiopians signing tizita as the Tea Party is to Obama—the fact that Vahe has reached escape velocity is a jaw dropping accomplishment.  Vahe is currently working on his debut album with Kenny Allen, who is a performer and a producer from DC currently living in Ethiopia.  Wait until Vahe comes out with his album, he will give the whole Habesha community a collective eargasm and I will be there to provide each one of you a wet cloth to cool you off.

Maybe the reason I am such a fan of Vahe—instant as it were—is because like him I am Vahe different too.  I too had to scratch and claw to get noticed; I too had my Ethiopianism questioned more times than Obama had his birth certificate questioned by asshole Donald Trump.  I too had to work 40 times harder than the average promoter to get the acceptance of the Ethiopian and Eritrean community.  So my story is his story, and our story can be told a million times a million years from now as a future Vahe sings Tizita as a future Teddy writes about it. 

You see folks, this is the power that we have in our hands. The internet, the social network, Facebook and Twitter—they can be used to remember Tizita or they can be used to create new memories and in the process transform our country into the Japan. So what will you do, will you continue to tweet about what kind of irgo you are eating with your dirkosh or will you send out a tweet right at this moment using #NationalEskistaDay and make that a trending tweet and in the process teach a billion twitter folk about the essence of our culture and that we are more than starving children on a starving continent. 

Your choice, I know one thing, while some artists continue to ignore me like it was 09.25.09 all over again, I shall forget that Tizita and create a new memory instead, embrace sewoch like Vahe and walk hand in hand in Hebret and arrive in Bole and together.  With his voice and my pen, we will light up the world with our kibrit talent and transform the world into a Vahe different place:: Peace!

“But when you get music and words together, that can be a very powerful thing.” ~Bryan Ferry

[click to join Vahe's fan page and follow Vahe on twitter @VaheTilbian]

[click to check out Vahe's youtube channel and stay tuned in]

lastly please click above to vote for Vahe today

[click to find out about National Eskista Day]

::03:03:12::

National Eskista Day

[click to see Laco Melza Ethio Cafe]

Part art, part food, part buna, LacoMelza will take you on a trip from Silver Spring to Addis up to Rome and back to Silver Spring before you finish the last drop of buna.  Let this amazing family owned cafe take you on a world trip without having to leave your seat.  What will start off with “Dabo be Shai” in the morning will have you remembering Enat Ethiopia while listening to beautiful music accompanied by beautiful people. 

LacoMelza Ethio Cafe’ & Restaurant is not just a restaurant but an art gallery. They will be exhibiting the paintings of an artist who lives in London by the name of Abiy G/Selassie.  LacoMelza has the Best Brunch in town all day Saturday and Sunday.  Their lunch menu is very creative and Dinner features a full Ethiopian menu.  They also have a very unique children’s menu that is both healthy and delicious.  So go out to LacoMelza, take the whole family, and take part in the grand time you will have at a Grand Cafe by the name of LacoMelza at 7912 George Ave, Silver Spring MD. PS National Eskista Day is going to be across from Laco Melza so you can have some DOPE megeb and shai while enjoying eskista right outside their door

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Author

Teddy Fikre

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