Bright Star: Teddy Afro

By Nesanet Hailu

Teddy Afro is courageous and visionary lyricist of the new millennium. He is so fantastic, when ever people think his talent has reached the maximum, he sets yet another standard of musical performances on and off the stage.

Here are some of the standards that Teddy set

Productivity Standard:
Teddy is like a music machine. He produces new products at least every three months: singles and music videos have been continuously coming to DC and the surrounding area. We consider him a good role model because he is productive artists. He is a good reminder that art could also be profitable, if people are focused and work hard.

Courageousness Standard:
Teddy has daring lyrics. He wishes Chicago, Addis Ababa, Asmara, and the rest of Africa a happy new year. You might ask what makes that so audacious. The answer is throughout the Diaspora and inside the country; he seems to be the only one who still mention Eritrea in their songs. Most other’s wishes of New Year stop at the new and fake boarder. But Teddy Afro, seems to understand there are no boarder inside an African blood. He is generous to wish the whole Africa including Asmera to have a happy New Year.

Pan-African Standard:
Teddy does not only preach Pan-Africanisim, but like Haile Girima, he seems to show it in his artistic work. People recognize the increasingly high influence of Bob Marily’s music and spirit on Teddy Afro.

Unlike some Ethiopian artists, such as Zeritu, whose role models are talent less American boy groups, Teddy Afro seems to choice creative and original artists from people that are closer to him and artists who love his people. For us who live in the Diaspora, we feel proud to introduce Ethiopian music to our American friends through Teddy Afro’s songs. He doesn’t have a scratchy voice, like Aster’s.

Sharing Standards:
For decades Ethiopian musical seen consisted of a sorry sounding keyboard and a single vocalist. When bands had become the thing of the past, Teddy started working with great band called Abogeda.

To everyone’s pleasant surprise he also added two beautiful African American female vocalists to his band on his last U.S. tour. He also added the Setegn Atenaw, a talented masinko player, to his band. His latest video, of the American tour, is an absolute improvement from his cheap BET imitation looking music videos.

Lyrical Sophistication Standard:
He works with timely themes yet ancient words. In the time were the precious Geez is being the kicked out of the church and Ethiopia and being transferred into large libraries and universities around the western world, Teddy seems to be kind to Geez. Teddy reminds us that Geez is something beautiful and valuable – something we should learn and use.

Unlike many Ethiopian lyrics that tend to focus on negativity, Teddy has several positive and uplifting lyrics. Most Ethiopian musicians think that a song must have sad lyrics to attract people’s attention, which is untrue. People listen to music to feel better, to get some energy and relax. Teddy also has grim lyrics, such as Eyesaku Eskista meaning crying when you’re dancing.

However, he balances his negative with lyrics that promote unity such as Jah Yasteserial. Most other lyrics concentrate on female and male negative relationships, but his lyrics tend to be more universal discussing about family relationship, history, and more.


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10819101