In the late 1980s, a new version of music used by the youth to express hope, problems, emotion and expectations of society emerged in Tanzania. This new genre of music, called Bongo Flava, was a fusion of different melodies and sounds influenced by R&B, American Hip Hop and African rhythms

What do you get when you combine a silky voice, a killer sense of fashion, a bunch of soul and a dash of humor?  The answer: multi-talented Liz Ogumbo.  Hailing from Kenya, Liz has been making moves for a while now.  But we wanted you all to get to know this Diva a bit more

Burntface - the group, the movement, the man.  However you understand the Ethio-inspired hip hop powerhouse, there's no denying that the eponymous lyricist - also known as the Profit - is a creative forced to reckoned with.  And if the past is any indication of the future, look out

AddisTunes and our Kampala-based editor Hillary Muheebwa have been spending the last year or so trying to give a voice to Uganda's voiceless - the street kids.  Here's one of our stories featured on Economist.com.

IT’S the start of the second term of school.  Boys and girls in

As we began dusting off the vinyl collection, we've decided to start sharing some with the rest of the world.  Here's one of our favorites by African Brothers International.  I picked this one up in Accra after haggling over bunch of records that some guys had buried in the back of

It’s 85 degrees in the shade.  Men and women are crowding into the mutatus (taxis), and a voice of consciousness is emanating from the speakers. Mathias Walukaga is a man who courts controversy—with lyrics that once landed him in jail.  In an era where hip hop has inspired a

One of the near universals things in life is love for mothers.  As another addition to the litany of songs recorded to honor these special women is Judith Babirye’s “Maama” – which is hit in the mutuatus (taxis) these days.

 Not only is Uganda’s Babirye

A couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune of attending the 7th Annual Trinity International Hip Hop Festival at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. If you are not familiar with this grand event then you have been missing out on some of the best emceeing in one arena the world has to offer, as

At AddisTunes, we love digging for rare musical gems in the form of old records.  This week, we’re featuring an oldie from the father of Ethio Jazz, Mulat Astatke.  This track, “Shagu” can be found on at least two different releases that I’m aware of:

The organization Invisible Children has been in the news lately - wining both praise and criticism for its video bringing awareness to the atrocities of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and Eastern Congo.  If you haven't seen the 30-minute video, you definitely should.  The story

When I first met my now-wife, and we had dinner in Addis Abeba, she shoved a big glob of food in my mouth.  Initially, I thought this was rather forward – until I noticed the entire restaurant filled with people selflessly sharing food with one another.  These gestures are known

Growing up in Canada, who would have known that Sol Guy’s early love affair with music would culminate into a lifelong marriage?  As a devoted hip hop head and skateboarder, music was instrumental in helping Sol realize that he’s a citizen of the world…and that it’s

Introducing the world to great music is what we live for…and today is one of the days that we dream of...real music by real musicians!!!

O.k, so what do you get when you put together an Armenian Oud player, an Egyptian percussionist, an avant-performance artiste (yes, with the