Ethiopia has long exhibited a broad range of folk music, considering each of the 80 tribes has its own slant on regional music.  Last century, a few key occurrences occurred within all of Africa, affecting both culture and the music produced. With the rise of recording and performance technology, state-sponsored orchestras tended to define the music played in each country (in many, as was the case of Ethiopia in the ‘80s, the only music allowed). As the orchestras moved past the ‘70s and drum machines, guitar effects and synthesizers made their way from European laboratories to African soil, the gritty, rootsy folk strains became blaring guitar-driven popular music. 

This was not the case everywhere, for the heartbeat of life—percussion—remained relevant, especially in the sounds that unique jazz pioneers like Mahmoud Ahmed were championing. While today Ethiopian music remains one of the more obscure African genres in America, a few labels and artists have produced a few breakthroughs, most notably Buda Musique’s Ethiopiques series and US-based vocalists Aster Aweke, and more recently, Gigi.  Ethiopiques has journeyed back in time before synth-heavy pop, reissuing unknown classics and Gigi has recreated new tracks with old influences. And while a burgeoning hip-hop scene currently exists in Ethiopia, little has become known overseas compared to the influx of Malian, Moroccan, Senegalese and South African forms.

Enter Bole2Harlem, which makes sense of a few threads of Ethiopia’s rich history. Besides making the obvious African parallel to hip-hop, producer David Schommer and producer/vocalist Maki Siraj inject a bit of dub and reggae: the connection being Emperor Haile Selassie’s influence on Bob Marley and the birth of that song form. The pair does not refuse any sound, Ethiopian or American, weaving strains of reggae, hip-hop, electronica and the familiar horns and call-and-response vocals dear to Ethiopian folklore and 70s pop. With an ear attuned to the importance of bass, Schommer programs an excellent range of soundscapes for this diverse recording.

Joining Siraj on vocals is Tigist Shibabaw, Gigi’s little sister, who cut her teeth in NYC club culture on the progressive Man.De.Ng debut Elektrik. Here she gets to show the strength of those powerful vocal chords, letting fly an infectious hook on the title track; when joined by Fray on the bouncing “Ahmet Bale” the true genius of this fusion emerges. Siraj maintains an inspired performance throughout, although a few sporadic sing-songy verses prove dated. Such disparate elements seep through here and there, making the album a bit more pop-oriented than necessary. But those are only sections or instrument choices, never full songs. The remix near the end could use a little touching up, though a reworking of the title track, this one dubbed “Harlem2Bole,” makes gorgeous use of a lucid kora part and minimal beat architecture. 

Credit Schommer and crew for keeping the integrity of such a range of sounds intact, while displaying their own with self-releasing this distinct album. It really cannot fit into any category, as is true of a good amount of electronic-based global music today. Through viral marketing and one damn good volume behind them, Bole and Harlem—chosen because they are entry and exit points in their respective countries for innovative music—once again serve as a portal from past to future sounds. 

Contributed by: Derek Beres for www.afropop.org