Fetsum: Urban Folk from Eritrea via Egypt, Rome & Germany

I just got an interesting and unusual cd from Sonar Kollektiv, a German label. It’s by an artist named Fetsum, who was born of Eritrean parents in Egypt, and who’s peripatetic family then lived in Rome, then Germany. The music mélange on the new cd, The Colors of Hope are eclectic, mixing soul, reggae, Malian, rock, hip hop. He has an urgent and compelling voice that has captivated his audiences. His voice–and his songs—-remind me of Bob Marley.

The Berlin based musician has performed in more than 160 venues in Europe, but isn’t known in America. That might change with this new album.

Here is a video of his song “Nobody Knows”

And a nice cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin ’bout a revolution”