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December 25,2016
It is not like Teddymania or anything like that. In all honesty, Tewodros Kassahun is truly special Ethiopian singer. His consciousness transcends the realm of music. And that is apparent from this long conversation in the embedded audio from Zehabesha’s YouTube channel. He lives Ethiopian values, apparently with nostalgia of the time when Ethiopia was strong and Ethiopian values was in the blood of Ethiopians. And he wants to pass it to his son, Michael Tewodros. Unlike many Ethiopian parents who do not seem to care whether their kids speak Ethiopian language while they do everything for their kids speak good English and other foreign languages, Teddy Afro wants his son to learn Ethiopia ‘s ancient language – Geez.
In this interview,on the occasion of his birth day, he not only tells us how he ended up to be a singer, his relationship with his late father – Ato Kassahun Germamo- but also unveils the not talked about figures whose giant contribution in Ethiopian music is overlooked or even forgotten. He mentioned Dereje Mekonnen in that regard.
In terms of his music taste, perhaps we are not even aware of their existence of some of Ethiopian oldies that he admire.
“አመልሽ ወርቅ ነው
ለአንጥረኛ ልስጠው
ሁሉም አሰርቶ
በጣቱ ላይ ያርገው” ,Misrak Kebede’s work, is one of the songs that he admires. It is in the audio clip above.
Even more importantly, cognizant of the social crisis Ethiopia is living, he reminds us of social principles and values that were of crucial importance in the past. He does so even when he talks about himself and his relation with his later father.
Must listen interview.