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Famous Ethiopian nun, Emahoy ‘Piano Queen’ Guèbrou, dies aged 99

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Prominent Ethiopian nun and renowned pianist and composer, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, has died at the age of 99, the country’s Ministry of Culture said on Wednesday.

The Ethiopian Sister who revolutionized the art of religion and music died peacefully in Jerusalem where she had lived reclusively in an Ethiopian monastery for nearly 40 years.

Popularly known as “The Piano Queen”, Guèbrou was ordained as a nun aged 21 and was among Ethiopia’s first classical pianists, the Ministry said in a statement.

In her lifetime, Guèbrou composed more than 150 original pieces of piano, organ, opera and chamber ensembles and her music has been used in Oscar-nominated documentaries and Netflix dramas.

“Born to a noble family, Sister Guèbrou was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland for ten years where she started her music studies. She then returned to Ethiopia and experienced life as a prisoner of war,” a citation released by the Catholic Church in Ethiopia reads.

“At the age of 19, Guèbrou fled the communist regime in Ethiopia to Jerusalem, where she worked for the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch.”

“Her most well-known compositions include “The Homeless Wanderer” and “The Mad Man’s Laughter.”

Guèbrou’s debut album, released in 1967, was accompanied by donations to those in need and was released when Ethiopia had a thriving jazz and classical music scene, while in 2006, compilation of her work was released on Buda Musique’s long-running Ethiopiques series, a French record label.

“She continued to utilise her music earnings to support Ethiopian children orphaned by war and established the Emahoy Tsege Mariam Music Foundation to aid underprivileged children in studying music,” it added.

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Collabo with Burna Boy enabled me buy house for my mum— Mozambican DJ Tarico

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Mozambican disc jockey and sound-producer, DJ Tarico, has credited Nigeria’s Afrobeats sensation, Burna Boy, with his sudden wealth which enabled him buy a house for his mother.

DJ Tarico attributed a collaboration with the Grammy Awards winning “African Giant” as the turning point in his story and said he would forever be grateful to the Nigerian star.

Speaking with the BBC African Voice on Saturday, DH Tarico said when he came up
with a particularly energetic beat one day, he couldn’t have predicted how it would change his life and that of his two friends.

He said one of his friends, Nelson Tivane, a songwriter and vocalist, came up with the lyric “Yaba Buluku” which was “inspired by the sound of coins jangling in a pocket”, while the other friend, Preck, “belted out that lyric with his gravelly, powerful voice,” with the song becoming an instant hit in their country.

“After we concluded the song, we went to a rural zone and we put a car with a big sound there, and we connected the song on the car and we saw many people dancing and ask ‘who is the owner of this song?’ Then we knew this song was going to be big!” Tarico recalls.

He said he was surprised that
none other than Burna Boy, realised the strength of “Yaba Buluku” and jumped on the remix, a move which had a massive impact on Tarico, Tivane and Preck.

“We were travelling all over Africa. Too many big artists were asking us for features. People started to know our face outside of Mozambique. We became internationals.

“And money! I bought a car, land and a house for my mother.”

The trio who now call themselves “Yaba Buluku Boyz”, have dropped their debut album, “Donsa”, on Friday, and are hoping to ride on the success of the collaboration to reach greatet heights in Africa and globally.

“Donsa”, according to DJ Tarico, “is high-energy, danceable amapiano, and features big African names including Ghana’s dancehall King Shatta Wale, Timaya from Nigeria and Harmonize from Tanzania,” he said.

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African men run away from single mothers— Joselyn Dumas

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Veteran Ghanaian actress and media personality, Joselyn Dumas, has lamented the fact that most African men shy away from getting married to single mothers due to the added responsibilities they will be saddled with.

The actress who made the assertion in her recent podcast, “Keeping it Real with Joselyn Dumas, The Perfect Picture”, opened up on the challenges of many single mothers who are struggling to find a partner because of societal biases.

In the podcast, Dumas who shared a personal story of a male friend whom she said refused to settle down with a lady because she had a child.

According to her, the friend named Anthony, firmly stated that it wasn’t his thing to be with a ‘born one’ or ‘born two’.

“He said B1, B2, I’m not in and I said to myself, ‘this is the reason why a lot of single mothers are single with their children.

“Now his reason was, why am I going to raise somebody’s child? That’s not my bloodline. He doesn’t have my DNA in him. Why am I now going to help someone’s bloodline grow? What about mine?” she said.

Dumas who is a single mother, noted that Anthony’s mindset is a “reflection of the views of a larger majority of people who don’t want to have meaningful relationship with single mothers.”

She also criticised what she termed as the double standard in society’s views on raising non-biological children, arguing that it should not be seen differently from adoption.

“I have a child but these men won’t even ask you, they don’t even care why you have a child. You’ve had seven miscarriages when you got married. You meet a guy, you were dating and you got pregnant, are you going to abort the baby because you aren’t married?

“He doesn’t want the child, are you going to throw the child away? No! You can raise the child. It takes a village to raise the child, so even if you don’t have a job, you will get support. This is part of the sacrifice you have to make regardless of what has happened,” she said.

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