www.maledatimes.com The world loves Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro. His own government doesn’t - MALEDA TIMES
Loading...
You are here:  Home  >  Ethiopia  >  Current Article

The world loves Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro. His own government doesn’t

By   /   September 20, 2012  /   11 Comments

    Print       Email
0 0
Read Time:4 Minute, 52 Second


Democracy Dies in Darkness
WorldViews

The world loves Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro. His own government doesn’t.

Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro at his home in Addis Ababa. (Mulugeta Ayene/Associated Press)
Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro at his home in Addis Ababa. (Mulugeta Ayene/Associated Press)

By Paul Schemm September 17, 2017 at 6:00 AM EDT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Monday marked the first day of the new Ethiopian year, but it hasn’t been much of a holiday for Teddy Afro, the country’s biggest pop star.

First, the government informed him that his New Year’s concert was canceled. Then, on Sept. 3, police broke up the launch party for his successful new album, “Ethiopia,” in the middle of the sound check at the Hilton Hotel, claiming Teddy hadn’t received permission to hold the event.

“Asking for a permission to organize an album launch is like asking a permit for a wedding or birthday party,” Teddy wrote on his Facebook page. “This is unprecedented and has never been done before because it is unconstitutional.”

But government disapproval certainly isn’t anything new for Teddy: This year was his third straight aborted New Year’s concert. And even as “Ethiopia,” which briefly hit No. 1 on Billboard’s world music chart, could be purchased or heard on virtually every street corner in the capital, Addis Ababa, after its May release, Teddy’s songs were nowhere to be found on state radio and TV. An interview with a public TV network was even canceled at the last minute, prompting the resignation of the journalist involved.

At first glance, there seems to be nothing controversial about Teddy Afro, born Tewodros Kassahun, and his traditionally influenced pop songs about love, unity and the glory of Ethiopia. His tunes have earned him a rapturous audience both at home and among the vast Ethiopian diaspora.

If anything, Teddy is quite the patriot. He’s just the wrong kind of patriot.

Teddy’s music has increasingly focused on extended history lessons glorifying Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, who was overthrown by a communist coup in 1974, as well as the great kings of the 19th century. The title track of his 2012 album, “Tikur Sew,” for example, celebrated Emperor Menelik II and his defeat of Italian troops invading Ethiopia in 1896 — complete with a music video that was practically a war movie.

Loading video

But those rulers came from the Amhara people, the ethnic group that has historically dominated the country and, according to other Ethiopian peoples, brutally repressed its rivals. “Wherever he faced fierce resistance, Menelik responded with the most barbaric and horrific forms of violence,” read a 2013 statement by activists from the Oromo people, who led a boycott campaign of the Heineken-owned brewery Bedele after it sponsored Teddy’s concerts.

Teddy’s celebration of historic Amhara rulers is dramatically different from the nationalism of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which is dominated by a political party from the Tigrayan people. The government promotes Ethiopia’s ethnic diversity and uses “unity through diversity” as its slogan. Teddy’s songs — and his criticism of rising ethnic division in Ethiopia — seem like challenges to its vision of the country.

The government is also particularly sensitive at the moment. The ruling party has carefully crafted a narrative of progress and development for the country, created partly in response to the bitterness that followed Ethiopia’s 2005 elections. It was the country’s first free and fair vote, and the results were heavily disputed. Hundreds died in the ensuing unrest, and — whether intentionally or not — a then-newly released song from Teddy became part of the soundtrack of the protests.

Now the government’s narrative is starting to fray. The country’s largest ethnic group, the Oromos, recently spent a year and a half protesting its alleged marginalization, saying that government development plans seemed to leave Oromo areas behind. Hundreds of people died at the hands of security forces during protests, and the situation calmed down only after a 10-month state of emergency was called in October 2016. The Amhara region also saw protests against the government in the same period, during which some people attacked Tigrayans as “usurpers.”

Just in the past few weeks, long simmering ethnic tension erupted into open violence between the Oromo regional state and the neighboring Somali regional state resulting in the displacement of 55,000 Oromos  local authorities said Sunday, with more than a dozen deaths.

Teddy “is instigating a quarrel during a very sensitive time for them,” said Seyyoum Teshome, an independent political analyst who has had run-ins of his own with the government.

Ethiopia’s government has been repeatedly criticized — albeit in fairly muted terms — by the United States and other countries for suppressing dissent. The Parliament is entirely under the control of the ruling party, and some of the most prominent opposition leaders, especially Oromos, are in prison. And while Teddy has insisted that he has nothing to do with politics, it appears that the government isn’t willing to take any chances on his music.

This article has been updated to reflect the recent clashes between inhabitants of the Oromo and Somali regions.

Read more:

0 CommentsPaul SchemmPaul Schemm is The Washington Post’s overnight foreign editor based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He joined the paper in 2016. He previously worked for the Associated Press as North Africa chief correspondent based in Morocco and, before that, in Cairo as part of the Middle East regional bureau. Follow 

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
    Print       Email

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

11 thoughts on “The world loves Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro. His own government doesn’t

  1. I really don’t get it, most of you are emotional I see through a different eye. This Tedy Afro guy I don’t even know why he doesn’t move to eritrea or leave Ethiopia. As for me he’s no different than Banda.

    I’m discusted by him I really do as once my ancestors said”Hamotebys” whatelse does he bring to the country. Now we have to be afraid of our own.

    God help us from those wicked people and those who are weak harboring enemies within us.

  2. I’ll send mail and encourage Ethiopian youth to go out with slogan and demand for him and his wife to leave. He’s a danger to Ethiopia, it’s his God given right to marry whomever he want we have no right to stop that but he have no right put all of us endanger that’s all I’m saying.

    I’ll never forget those who lived among us and slaughtered us at the end. Those of you who got amnesia please, revisit history. I think he can move to Europe & America…what I’m worried about is she’s = Isayas

    1. why do you get mad about his marriage?is there something wrong Makada?
      Do you know Teddy closely? I wonder how his marriage issue is related to your kind of politics.I am assuming that you might have some failed motive.

  3. I fully agree with Makda, she doesn’t seem angry to me she full aprove his right to marry and love whomever he want, but to bring an eritrean to Ethiopia while Ethiopians are fighting against this people conspiracy in the past. and lets not forget UN stated they were harboring terorism during AU meeting to plant a bomb.

    I guess I’ll leave it at that. She seem to disagree him to bring her to Ethiopia.

    That’s how I read her message unlike some of you.
    Good luck in his marriage but we don’t want him in Ethiopia period get the hell out you dirty filthy guy. Don’t use Menlik or Balchas name some of us related to them…They were real men unlike stupid whatever his name was.

  4. I can not get why these ladies are angry about Tedy’s marriage.The women he get married lives in Addis and her families are there too as to my information.So what do these women want him to do?

  5. Woy Gize Tigre Rasachne Lay Wotta,

    We need a big “Egzio Mahrene Kiristos” I’m not kidding did the guy said her family live in Ethiopia. Of course We Ethiopians not allowed to live in Ethiopia, some terra eritrean can kill us and come and live in our country, while the real Ethiopians are mariginalize.
    Time will tell as Bob Marly said it. Either the tigres adn eritreans will leave or us. I thought they got their independence they hated Ethiopia, What I’m not getting is what are they doing their.
    Once one Eritrean business man told me and my family I want to start business in Ethiopia. My dad was surprised and asked him well now you have a country don’t you think you might want to do that in your country. Yea, but there is no enough business there. So he said, we just looked at each other and said um…you right.
    So now we got it, eritra is private but Ethiopia is ours good luck!
    PS. When we have our own leader they’ll be recomanded to leave if not …wish them luck..

  6. Who said she is an eritrean or tigre for that matter? Amleset muchie is her name muchie is a name that is used only by Gonderes. As for me he can marry a chinese if he chooses to. Stop these backward tribalist mentality. Respect individual rights!!!!

  7. we now every thing those are not ethiopian as if they put as ethiopian them self and wrote all negative about him /teddy afro/,so when some body left massaeg trash ,negative belive me they are not ethopans

Comments are closed.

<"Without the support of our readers, the Maleda Times website would not exist in its present form">

You might also like...

በሰሜን ሸዋ ዞን ኤፍራታ እና ግድም ወረዳ መከላከያ ከአማራው ማህበረሰብ እና ከፋኖ ጋር ጦርነት ገጥሟል

Read More →

This site is protected by wp-copyrightpro.com

%d bloggers like this:
Skip to toolbar