ስጋኺ (sigaki, "for your name sake"), new CD by Habtom Debessai
Reviewed by Dawit Gebremichael Habte
May 29, 2014
Title: Sigaki (Tigrinya word for "for your name sake")
Genre: Tigrinya guayla and modern beats
Number of songs: 10
Vocalist: Habtom Debessai
Contact: 1-310-936-6462
Price: $10 (ten US Dollars)
Sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zxB-HvToNc
Habtom Debessai has done it again. First, it was with his acclaimed book titled "Tesfa" (Hope) detailing the complex journey of Eritrean-Diaspora. Through his fictional character Rahel's personal accounts, in "Tesfa", Habtom had shown us how human beings in general and Eritrean-Diaspora in particular survive their arduous and endless journey in exile. Habtom had detailed beautifully and skillfully the complicated human drama Eritrean-Diaspora face in this hostile world.
This time, Habtom has blessed us with his first album titled ስጋኺ (sigaki, for your name sake). The album is a result of team work between great Eritrean artists with a wealth of experience in both traditional and modern beats. The album contains the following 10 songs:
1. ኣህዘንዝኖት (ahzenznot) -- Lyric Hailemichael Haileselasse (a.k.a Lingo) and Abrar Osman Melody: Abrar Osman
2. ሪኤያ (I saw her) -- Lyric: Haile Gebru and Habtom Debessai, Melody: Haile Gebru
3. ስጋኺ (for your name sake) -- Lyric and melody: Abrar Osman
4. መድሃኒት (healer/savor) -- Lyric: Tesfit Yohanes, Melody: Muktar Salh
5. ኪሻ (generic/common name used to address Kunama young women reaching adolescence) -- Lyric: Fortuna Gebregergish, Melody: Awet Oqbay
6. ጽባሕ'ያ ትዛረብ (tomorrow/the future will tell it all) -- Lyric: HailemichaelHaileselasse (a.k.a Lingo), Melody: Muktar Salh
7. ዘይውንና (the one I could not claim/own) -- Lyric and melody: Habtom Debessai
8. ሰላቢተይ -- Lyric: Tesfit Yohanes, Melody: Awet Oqbay
9. ቁርቁስ ምስ ልበይ -- Lyric and melody: Abrar Osman
10. በበይንና ኢና (we are not altogether) -- Lyric and melody: Muktar Salh
For this review, I have picked the following three songs of which the two I believe have very powerful and far-reaching messages than mere entertainment and one that showcases Habtom Debessai as a songwriter, melody producer, and vocalist:
1. ኣህዘንዝኖት (ahzenznot) -- traditional tigrinya guala and a work of three artists
2. ኪሻ -- modern beat and a work of three artists
3. ስጋኺ (for your name sake) -- Lyric and melody: Abrar Osman
ኣህዘንዝኖት (ahzenznot) is a masterpiece. No buts, no ifs, just brilliant. The vocalist Habtom Debessai has done an excellent job in delivering the deeply rooted words of Lingo and superb melody of Abrar. The song starts with a voice narrating the following introduction:
ዓሚዩቕ ፍቕሪ'ሎኒ ናትኪ ኣህዘንዝኖት
ህላዌኺ'ዩ ዓደይ ዝኾነኒ ሂወት
ኣስናነይ እንተሰሓቐ ዝባነይ እንተተኸድነ
ታሕጓስኪ ዘይብሉ'ስ ናብራ'ይብሎን ኣነ
ተመስከሪ ሰማይ ተመስከሪ ምድሪ
መተካእታ የልብሉን ዓደይ ናትኪ ፍቕሪ
In the middle of the song a female voice narrates the following phrase in English:
Your worth is priceless
In you we are united
Teach us patience to love each other
Grant us forgiveness for our mistakes
Bless us with prosperity, equality, freedom, and peace
The narration is also repeated in Arabic by a male voice at the end of the song, right before the beat switches to sibra. Habtom has done an exceptional job in voice and word clarity in ኣህዘንዝኖት(ahzenznot). Thanks Lingo, Abrar, and Habtom for the reminder that Eritrea is ours for better or worse and without her we are indeed worthless:
ናተይ ኢኺ ጎዲሉ ተተደመረ
ብዘይካኺ ከንቱ'የ ኣነ
ኪሻ (Kisha) is another team work where Fortuna Gebregergish (Habtom's spouse) contributed the lyric, Awet Oqbay did the melody, and Habtom delivered with perfect tune. ኪሻ (Kisha) is a popular generic/common name used to address Kunama young women reaching adolescence. ኪሻ (Kisha) starts with a group of Kunama men singing a song in the Kunama language and various individuals talking over each other in the background in what seems to be a market place, but in actuality is a funeral ceremony of someone who is blessed with many years of lease on this earth and with successive generations of children and grandchildren. The background voices in the Kunamalanguage continue for about 18 seconds and then the organ/piano starts to take over and finally the background sound ceases after a couple of seconds. After 32 seconds into the music, Habtom startsKisha with the following powerful and telling words:
ባረንቱ ሓሊፈ ንጎኘ ክሰግር
ጋን ኮይኑኒ ኺሻ ኣብ ቀብሪ ክትዕልል
ወና ጓይላ ኣድኒቑ እንዳተፈታተለት
ጎላጉል ማዓጉርታ ግን ሓጺቡዎ ንብዓት
እዛ ናይ ጋሽ ወለባ ዕምቆቱ ድምቀቱ ገራቢ ልባ
ሰሚዔ ኣይፈልጥን ትርጉም እተልብስ ይትረፍዶ ንምንባር ንሞትውን ብጸጋ
Kisha is about life, death, and thereafter in the Kunama tradition. The storyline is clear and focused. The detailed description of Kisha's youth (or Kish-kisha for plural), their well-built body structure and their "ululating in the middle of a funeral" can easily take a listener to a gathering in Barentu and the plains of Barka. You see, in the Kunama tradition when elder people who had become grandparents pass away of old age, they are "celebrated" for the marks they would leave behind. The funeral ceremony is celebrated by having a group of young adult women (Kish-kisha) dancing to farewell the dead. I asked my eight years old daughter what she thought of Kisha when we were listening to the CD while driving around. Rutha"s response was "but, it is sad, dawit". It is indeed sad. It is a story of a young Kunama woman "ululating in the middle of a funeral" with tears flowing in drops across her face. If an eight years old kid can understand the tenor of a song without having an iota of understanding of the lyric, then the artists have done their job. Habtom has delivered the essence of Fortuna's lyric and Awet's melody. Well done, Habtom.
For Sigaki, (for your name sake), you be the judge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zxB-HvToNc
I believe Habtom has proven his capability as a vocalist above and beyond any doubt on numerous occasions and he has shined and songwriter and melody producer on his debut album as well.
dawit
Received on Thu May 29 2014 - 20:38:01 EDT