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Eritrea: origin of rap?

Written by Milka Teklom

http://www.shabait.com/about-eritrea/hi ... in-of-rap-

About Eritrea - History & Culture



I don’t think I am cold-hearted but when I hear gang-related shoot outs my empathy for the deceased don’t last long until I heard the death of Sandman Negus, an Eritrean American rapper. His real name is Sador Fissehaye.

He began rapping at the age of twelve and went on to recording at fifteen. Although he was born in exile his love for his native country is unbelievable. He produced and remixed tracks incorporating Eritrean melody into his lyrics. His death on September 27, 2012 was a shock and a great loss to everyone, especially to Eritrean people.

His young brother, Sawranious Fissehaye, followed in sandman’s footsteps as a hardcore Eritrean. He came to Eritrea this year for his wedding, which he always planned to have on January 12, Sandman’s birthday. He surprised his family by bringing a cake with the inscription “happy birthday brother”. When the celebration was over I started chatting with some of the guests about the great artists Eritrea has lost that could have represented it on the world stage, especially rappers like Nipsey Hussle.

The celebration and memory of Sandman Negus made me wonder about rap’s origin. Obviously because it’s commonly associated with hip-hop I linked it with African American cultural evolution but when I dug deep I began to question everything I thought I knew.

Even though the term ‘rap’ has been in the dictionary for so long, its meaning was quite different in the past from what it means right now. It meant to utter sharply or vigorously, especially commands. The closest meaning to what rap means right now appeared in 1932, in the American slang dictionary. While the Americans were busy labeling rap, people in West Africa were performing griots. Griots or jeli, which is similar to rap, is a repository of oral tradition in which story tellers or singers use their rhetorical techniques to praise or critique individuals. In the Horn of Africa, especially in Eritrea and Ethiopia, this kind of culture is common.

In Eritrea, Masse and Melkes are commonly practiced, especially by men. Masse is used on happy occasions, such as weddings, to praise the bride and groom as well as their families and ancestors. Just like the latest forms of rap, a combination of speech, prose, poetry, and singing, Masse is delivered in a rhythmical flow of poetry accompanied by traditional musical instruments or without any instrument. Melkes, on the other hand, is used to mourn the dead. The person who practices Melkes praises the deceased. All of these performances are usually done on the spot, without any rehearsals, just like what’s now called free-style hip-hop. Currently artists who could free style on any topic more than seven bars are highly acclaimed in the music industry. By this standard, those who practice Masse and Melkes in our country and region are geniuses.

In my view, these factors and other supportive historical as well as archeological parameters can arguably be invoked to contend that precursor of modern rap may be civilizations in the Horn of Africa rather than the commonly held view of West Africa. Of course this remains a mere conjecture which must be validated by exhaustive research.

What bothers me most is the fact that it’s believed that during the 1960s and 70s the person credited with originating the style of delivering rhymes over extensive music that came to be known as rap is Anthony Holloway, AKA DJ Hollywood from Harlem, New York. I disagree with this statement because according to the book “Masse and Melkes Kedamot,” by Solomon Xhaye, in the 1870s Weldemichael Solomon and Haylu Teweldebrhane, leaders of the villages Hazega and Xeazega were constantly battling each other for authority. During one of these battles Haylu won and the infamous Massena (rapper) and wata (traditional stringed musical instrument) player, Teoumeezgie, praised Haylu as a divine power and dissed Weldemichael as a coward. As time went on the battles continued and in the end Haylu was defeated and killed in Wekiduba battle. Teoumeezgie fell on the hands of Weldemichael and begged for mercy using these rhymes



Weldu jinn Weldu jinn

Here is a sword behead me

Here is a rope hang me

Here is a lake drown me

Here is a cliff push me

Here is a trench put me in it

I didn’t guess you would win

The devil messed with me

Weldu jinn Weldu jinn

Are you from the sky or the underground?

Indeed you are a killer and killed but mercy is what I need

Mercy is all we need

Mrs Eleni Mrs Eleni

You gave birth to coldness without shivering

You gave birth to thunder without shock

You gave birth to lightning without fear

You gave birth to fire without being burned

Yo Weldu son of Eleni

Raised by care who fights in a war like jinni

I didn’t guess you would win

I am sorry devil misled me

After listening to the Masse Weldemichael forgave the Massena but was terrified by his lyrical ability and banished him from his territory. So our fore fathers delivered flawless rhythms in time with music way before DJs explored they could spit words within a beat. Another fact that shows we had the culture of rap is battle rapping. Massenatat use to insult one another representing their village or district. What adds flavor to rap is performance and that was well taken care of in our culture. The person who delivers the Masse attracts the attention of listeners by standing up and communicating with his body language, moving around on the platform.

In short, considering the developed world as the origins of pop culture without questioning is wrong because more often than not the origins tend to be ancient civilizations in Africa and other continents.

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COPENHAGEN FALL 2020
Selam Fessahaye



COPENHAGEN- JANUARY 28, 2020

by BROOKE BOBB

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/cop ... -fessahaye

Right off the bat, Selam Fessahaye’s fall collection felt deeply personal. It began with a barefoot model wearing a voluminous, floor-sweeping taffeta ball skirt and a one-shoulder crop top, her hair braided and adorned with traditional Eritrean jewelry worn by her mother and grandmother. Fessahaye is Swedish-Eritean, and she often mines her familial roots for inspiration. As she explained post-show,

With this collection, I’m telling my story, focusing on my heritage. It’s a ready-to-wear collection with no limitations.

Fessahaye has few boundaries when it comes to design, favoring exaggerated silhouettes and a smorgasbord offering of materials and textures. This was made clear as the models began to stroll on the runway one by one, each different heights, different body types, different races. It was one of the most diversely casted runways in Copenhagen Fashion Week history. It was also a showcase of Fessahaye’s playful imagination, specifically in the way she deconstructed hoodies and cargo pants and blew them up to giant proportions.

A model with a Lauryn Hill tattoo on her arm whisked by wearing a striking minidress made of fanned bits of pleated tulle. Men wore metallic suits with peaked lapels and cropped jackets. They looked like futuristic versions of Rick James. Fessahaye worked with tapestry fabric, sequins, lamé, and organza. It truly was a tactile feast, even if at times the clothes seemed a bit over-the-top. One of the most stirring looks in the collection was a trench coat and gown hybrid printed with a woman proudly holding a machine gun. It was a woman fighting for the liberation of Eritrea, and it’s an image that Fessahaye said has been with her since she was a kid.

Women and men fought side-by-side. To me, it symbolizes the strength of the women in my family.

Strength is the right word to describe this collection.

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Eritrea at 2020 .... dotted with health care facilities: hospitals, health centers, health stations, etc ... whereby, 80% of the people get health-care services within 10 km distance, and 60% of the people within 5km. (Courtesy of Kokob @NeslekiEritrea)


ENAMCO, the Eritrean National Mining Corporation that owns 50% of the Potash project, has already made available dozens of heavy duty Sino trucks from China for the project.

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ንዝገበረላካ ግበረሉ ወይ ንገረሉ።
In his memoir Ahmed Tahir Badurri recalls that as a young activist, that the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (RIP) held a hunger strike in front of the prison where Eritrean freedom fighters were imprisoned in Pakistan. They were all released.
(DA⚘ #RLB4Leader: @ERI_HISTORY448)

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Beautiful Eritrea with its charming and majestic hills and valleys. This is on the way to the Southern region. Around Menguda, just few Kms from Asmara.



Satellite images of the solar park in Mai-Dima/Areza: Eritrea.

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A reception was organised by Embassy of India, Asmara to mark 71st Republic Day. About 300 guests, including Ministers and senior officials of Government of Eritrea, members of diplomatic corps and Indian community attended. Ambassador Subhash Chand, spoke on the occasion.
(India in Eritrea: @IndiaEritrea)

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“Eritrea- India relations go back centuries”

Ambassador Subhash Chand

Written by Asmait futsumbrhan

http://www.shabait.com/articles/q-a-a/3 ... ash-chand-

Articles - Q & A

January 26, is the day India celebrates its Republic Day. Just five months after the first resident Indian Embassy in Eritrea opened its doors, it celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day at the Asmara Palace Hotel for the first time. At an event ministers and high ranking officials attended, various entertaining programs were presented showcasing India and the Indian cultures.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day of India, Ambassador Subhash Chand held a rather short interview with Q&A about his time in Eritrea and the bilateral Eritrea-India relationship.



Thank you for being our guest, if you could please tell us something about the Republic Day of India?

Thank you for having me; it is such a pleasure to talk to Eritrea profile. India became a free country on 15th August 1947. Although we were independent as a country, we didn’t have a book that guided us. The Constitution of India came into effect on the 26th of January 1950. Ever since then, the government of India has followed and is administrated by the constitution. So, as a country we celebrated two significant national holidays; the 15th of August is our Independence Day and the 26th January is when we honor our republic day.

It has only just been five months since we established the Indian Embassy in Eritrea, and this is the first time we are celebrating our national day. Honestly speaking, the reception was overwhelming; we are lucky to have the honorable Ministers, Ambassadors, senior officials as well as the Indian community take part in the event besides all the invited guests. Most of all, I am happy that we were able to make many Indians take part in the event; we had little kids and few young men from the state of Punjab who are working in the construction company perform the traditional dances that represent our country and traditions.



Mr. Ambassador, what can you tell us about the Eritrea- India bilateral relationship?

Relationship between these two countries goes back centuries; this is a fact that can be backed up by the archeological reports. Studies show that there was a frequent business movement of Indian traders at the ports of Massawa. This tells us that our people have linked many years ago. And now, during the modern times, since we have opened the embassy here in Asmara, I take it as one of my prior endeavors to try to revive the business amongst many sectors between the two countries.

India has been receiving many Eritrean students for scholarships over the years. The government of India and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has been offering fully funded scholarships every year, but these scholarships haven’t been fully utilized since we didn’t have a diplomatic mission. With various reasons and challenges, we weren’t able to use those scholarships effectively. However, this is something that our embassy is relentlessly working on in connection with various Ministries. I now hope that all these scholarships which many Indian Universities are offering could be used effectively so that for the next years we would ask for more in number. Similarly, there are about 45 capacity building courses that are offered by the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program which is elected to Eritrea which, once again, haven’t been used effectively because we didn’t have an official resident embassy here. But I am happy to tell you that the response I have gotten from all the Ministries is optimistic and I hope to work hard on it before the registration times expire.

Agriculture, mining, science and technology, pharmaceuticals, etc., are other sectors that the two counties could work on together. I believe that we can do much through working together. While on the topic, Confederation of Indian Industry is a business body and they organize CII project partnership, which is a summit dedicated for India Africa Relationship. Hopefully, we are trying to extend invitations to various Ministers to go and participate at the event the CII will hold in March and, hopefully, they would be interested in mutual beneficial sectors.

It is to be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the Ugandan Parliament in July 2018 propounded Ten Guiding Principles of engagement with Africa. These principles emphasize that India wants to engage with Africa in priority sectors to be decided by Africa and without any conditionals. India wants to encourage Indian companies to do business in Africa. India also wants to build as much local capacity as possible.

Therefore, confidently, over the period of time, the momentum will pick up and we should be doing better than before for the future.

During your speech, you mentioned that the Eritrea- India Cultural exchange dates back almost 60 years. Please elaborate?

As I said before linkages have existed. I have met many Eritreans who speak about old Indian movies. This is a surprise to me. Simply, that is what culture exchange means. That Eritreans knew our songs, dances and country. Just, for instance, during this evening two Eritrean musicians have performed Indian songs for the audience. This shows that we only need to nurture the cultural exchange between the two countries for our people to explore each other’s heritages.

Being the first resident Ambassador in the country, what is your overall impression about Eritrea?

It is simply a beautiful country. Asmara is such a historic city. It has been five months and we are lucky to be part of this beautiful country and people. I sometimes get shocked that it has already been that many months. It has been an amazing experience. We even look alike. If a person would tell me they are from India, I wouldn’t doubt it. That means we are close in many ways. I am happy to be here and it is my great honor to take the relationship of both countries to the next higher level through working with different Ministries and governmental institutions. Now that a diplomatic mission’s here, it is our job to give services to the Eritreans and Indians and work to reduce the challenges that might come their way. We are here to do our best to see Eritrea-India relations get stronger.



Mr. Ambassador, anything you would like to add before we say our good byes?

I am very optimistic about Eritrea. I am happy to know that things are taking positive shape. Since my arrival here, I have seen many visits from and to Eritrea at the highest level which speaks volumes about the evolving situation in the Horn of Africa. It is pleasing to know that Eritrea is part of this peace process and nation building. It will be my honor to see that we strengthen the relationship between the two countries and we also become part of this process that Eritrea is currently undertaking of nation building so that our two countries can prove that we are good friends and we can work together for the betterment of our nations.

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Pleasure to exchange information and way forward for 2020 with AfDB Group Asia Officials.


Talks to promote tie-ups with Oriental Consultants & Eritrea, on partnership of infrastructure & ancillary services.
(Ambassador Estifanos: @AmbassadorEstif)