It's my last day on KEXP. Let's break some rules...
There's an album cover and track list reveal here.
Melkam addis amet, y’all.
It’s the start of a new year on the Ethiopian calendar, and this morning is also the last time I host a show I started a little over 3 years ago on KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle, which at that point was a little over 3 years after I first started DJ’ing at the station. My friend Eva Walker (of The Black Tones) will carry on the show from here, and I’m gonna be focusing on health, family, education, my own music, and still sharing playlists, mixes and podcasts with you on this very Substack. I don’t know if I’ll return to radio, when or where, but I can tell you I won’t be singing Nonchalant’s “5 ‘O Clock In The Morning” if I do. (Much respect to Nonchalant though.)
Since this is my last show, and a day where we have celebrated Ethiopian and Eritrean music in the past, I’m planning to break some rules, and get into some of my own music on the air, for the first time.
As you all know, 2020 was a year the world changed overnight. One of the many ways my world was forever changed was by a war in Ethiopia, that’s changed my very concept of homeland, in ways that have been hard to talk about in a public space. I address some of these issues on the new album, and I plan to give you all a sneak preview of the unreleased songs live on the air today. Tune in from 5-7am (pacific time) on 90.3 FM in Seattle / streaming worldwide here or the KEXP mobile app, or you can hit the archives here if you are seeing this message a little later in the day.
In honor of the new year and all these changes, I also want to offer you the first chance to pre-order the new album. It’s up on Bandcamp now. Guests on the album include Aisha Fukushima, BeeLyn Naihiwet, Khingz, Meklit, Sarah MK, KO Nikkita, Dakota Camacho, Rell Be Free, Jennifer Johns, Ian Kamau, Ijeoma Oluo, Chief Ahamefule J. Oluo and the Shrine All-Star Band.
Hope to see y’all at one of these shows… like the one this Thursday in Tacoma! You can click-through the flyers for ticket links.
