Kassmasse

• Bahil Weg [Meedo, 2022] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Bahil Weg [Meedo, 2022]
Although everything I knew about Fikru Sema seemed praiseworthy enough, I was chary of giving this breakout Ethiopian hip-hop-sorta artist the praise his music and general vibe deserved because I don't understand a word of Amharic. In a nation near neither the top nor the bottom in human rights matters, no political slant or animus makes itself known in this context unless an active interest in modernity counts, which to an extent it does. But the music is something like entrancing nonetheless, dominated by vocals that are chanted whether sung or spoken over sample beds often constructed of traditional Ethiopian sounds, which have always tended European by African standards. Some are almost orchestral, there's always a drum line, and you bet there's a Bob Marley sample too. A-