“Where would one attend a wake when a nation dies?”
—–Tewodros Kassahun a.k.a (Teddy Afro) , From Etorika Album
ዳስ ጣል /Set-up A Tent
“According to the Ethiopian Standard Time It is now 5 AM”
Or
According to the Ethiopian Political and Social clock it is now the Eleventh Hour?
When justice is denied, families are uprooted and torn apart by government brutality, and humiliation, polarization, imprisonment, forced displacement and war becomes a political strategy to maintain a stranglehold on power, speaking up and standing up becomes a moral obligation. Especially to those who take the burden of responsibility earnestly.
Certainly, all artists are not on the same spectrum of morality, ethics and social responsibility. Some turn art into a transactional commodity. They entertain those who use their power to terrorize citizens. They use their artistic imagination and creativity in support of subjugation, exploitation and sustaining hegemony. In the Ethiopian landscape of arts this stark reality is visible everyday. While the arts scene across the country is brim-full with transactional artists. One artistic genius consistently showed for decades where his responsibility lies.
His new Album ኢትዮሪካ /Etorika is a masterpiece that exhibits his country’s history, sorrow and hope, In one of his songs titled ዳስ ጣል /Put Up the Tent
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADc9JPeLYi4) A das is a traditional Ethiopian mourning tent. By asking to set up a tent for his “inner pain,” he signals that the grief is no longer about a single event but the foundational loss of the “spirit of being Ethiopian”.
This loss of collective and shared identity/belonging that comes through clearly in his voice. He laments and engages in a dialogue with his heart. Emphasizing the heart as centre of life and being. Here he is prodding dip into the rich cultural values and mosaic of his country and his people. His silky, vibrating and therapeutic voice transmits the one cultural asset of Wake as a metaphor for his country’s pain and despairs. “Where would one attend a wake when a nation dies?” He probes. A das is a traditional Ethiopian mourning tent. By asking to set up a tent for his “inner pain,” he signals that the grief is no longer about a single event but the foundational loss of the “spirit of being Ethiopian”.
“My heart you better set up a tent, for my inner pain and sorrow
I keep telling myself there is time and that self-comfort continues to hurt. Teddy communicates that human desire to deny reality and engage with wishful thinking as a self therapy. The composition, content, voice flow and vibration combine deep angst of a nation that lost its way. The national pain and trauma are palpable in his voice. His voice, not his eyes, weeps. The musical instruments join in the “wake” for the country. One must understand that this is not just a performance in a conventional sense. This is sorrowing verbalized and trauma embodied. He narrates that deeply painful and subjective experience of being treated as an outsider while one’s heart, soul and spirit affirms the truth that the only place I have known and I belong is “here”.
Most importantly, this is not an individual’s lament. It is a lament of a nation and its one hundred thirty million people. Here he silently without a word names the toxicity of the current political formula that poisoned the nation. Fostering hate polarization, hate dehumanization. This is the very essence of his lament. Most importantly, this is not an individual’s lament. It is a lament for a dislocated nation and its one hundred thirty million people. Here his voice flows like the Blue Nile cutting and zigzagging through the mountains, valleys and plains. The echo reverberated across the rugged Rocky Mountains of the north. Lush farmlands of the south and southwest and the oasis of the east.
I keep telling myself there is still time
the truth is by doing so I tormented myself
“Ancestors-built Axum and Lalibela from a single rock
We their children failed to take a single step forward because division
The foundation of our nation has become wobbly
And the roof is full of holes…” His reference here is the political formula of the last four decades that failed to bring the country together. Instead, the political class choose to utilize a formula of polarization, division and hateful rhetoric.
In one of the verses Teddy talks about a nation betrayed by the current leadership. He says, “Sweet talker often thinks he is ahead. To be betrayed is painful ……” This particular versus is an indictment of the present political class that began with soaring rhetorical flourishes and spectacularly failed to deliver. He also hums of becoming a “stranger” in the place where he grew up, reflecting the displacement of millions of Ethiopians across regional lines.
Patterns of Censorship and suppression
The “Jah Yasteseryal” (2005): After the regime banned this album from state-controlled radio, it became a cultural milestone, selling over one million copies. Fans famously queued at small music shops, which became alternative public spheres where people could openly discuss the political messages in his lyrics. In 2008, his imprisonment for a hit-and-run which he and his fans maintained was politically motivated outraged thousands. Despite being jailed, his popularity continued to grow, and his eventual release in 2009 was met with massive public acclaim. His 2017 album Ethiopia topped the Billboard World Albums chart for weeks despite federal police halting his launch party and cancelling New Year’s Eve concerts without official reasons.
The release of his latest album, Ethio-Rica (also known as Etorika), has followed a similar trajectory of suppression and surging digital engagement: On April 14, 2026, a planned live press briefing in Addis Ababa was obstructed. Reports indicate the Ethiopian Media Authority pressured Arts TV to cancel the broadcast, summoning executives to explain their agreement with the artist. Teddy’s new album Etorika generated massive, record-breaking viewership upon its release on April 17, 2026. Within the first 24 hours, the album surpassed 30 million views on YouTube across various uploads and lyric videos.
On April 18, 2026, reports surfaced that over 100 youths were arrested in Addis Ababa specifically for listening to or streaming the new album in public. Why is Das Tal targeted? This is the album’s most controversial track, widely interpreted as a direct condemnation of the government’s failure to protect citizens. Teddy Afro uses the metaphor of a das (traditional mourning tent) to grieve for a “lost country”. He laments that he has become a “stranger” in his own village, a sentiment that resonates with millions of displaced Ethiopians. As an ironic confirmation of this fact authorities reportedly blocked a live press conference for the album and arrested roughly 105 youths for streaming this specific track in public.
Summary
Teddy’s message is unambiguous. He recalls the national legacy of fierceness of keeping the country sovereign and independent. He recognizes and celebrates those who paid with their lives to stave off the European colonialists. Making the nation the only country in Africa that remained uncolonized and un colonizable. Not for the fact that the colonizers tried but due to the independent spirit of ancestors. He evokes pain full memory of 1935- 1936 Second Italo-Ethiopian war where Fascist Italy used estimated 300 to 500 tons of mustard gas killing tens of thousands mostly civilians.
Teddy (as he is known by his fans and throughout the nation) is no stranger to government intimidation and even imprisonment. His 2017 album Ethiopia topped the Billboard World Albums chart for weeks despite federal police halting his launch party and cancelling New Year’s Eve concerts without official reasons. In 2008, his imprisonment for a hit-and-run which he and his fans maintained was politically motivated and outraged thousands. Despite being jailed, his popularity continued to grow, and his eventual release in 2009 was met with massive public acclaim. His 2017 album Ethiopia topped the Billboard World Albums chart for weeks despite federal police halting his launch party and cancelling New Year’s Eve concerts without official reasons.
Ethiorica is much more than a song/entertainment. It emphasizes a “Pan-Ethiopian” identity rooted in historical pride, which the current government sees as a threat to the existing system of ethnic federalism. By drawing from the long and ancient history of Ethiopia he calls for national unity. He recognizes and celebrates those who paid with their lives to keep the nation the only country to defeat the European colonialists. Affirming the fact that Ethiopia has been fighting colonialism and fascism since 1896.
Ethiopia’s current political landscape is characterized by petulant leadership that amplifies glitter as a success rather than fundamental political change, inclusive economic framework. Failure and unwillingness to unite the country and harness its collective and rich talent, creativity and imagination. Teddy in his new album also warns that patience is running out and a storm is coming. Stressing the importance of averting measure catastrophe with serious regional and global implications. For now, the nation is not only listening with Teddy it is also singing with him. What comes next is anyone’s guess.
The author could be reached via email: olizeagaro@yahoo.com
source; borkena
