Addis Black Widow is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
band. Their songs include "Innocent", "Wait in Summer" and "Goes Around Comes Around" which reached #2 on the Swedish Tracks Chart in 2001. The single "Innocent" reached #42 in the UK Chart in 1996. Two years later they, under the moniker Bus 75, reached #69 in the UK Chart guesting on the song "Four Big Speakers" by Swedish rock band Whale.
In 2007, the group entered
Melodifestivalen's first semifinal with the song "Clubbin". The group finished last and did not make it to the finals. Band member "Cream", who lives in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, did not participate.
Since 2008 Addis Black Widow has been a hip hop act led by Pigeonmun, one of the founders and the main producer/composer. Other bands associated with Addis Black Widow are Raw Meat Productions Hb and Surreal entertainment Db. The music is a mixture of hip hop, rap, and pop music Pigeonmun calls "hip pop".
Members
The Black Widow started with the original members from the
rap group Puffy MC & Jah Rock combined with Da Cream. Although their backgrounds stretch from
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...
to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
to
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, the band recorded their first
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
(''The Battle of Adwa'') in their early twenties in
Sweden. They were the first Swedish based underground
hip hop band to reach
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
and
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
sales outside the
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
. Also called
gay hip hop pioneers (Cream is a
lesbian), in 1996, Addis Black Widow was the first rap act to take a controversial lesbian themed
music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
such as ("Innocent") to
MTVs top 5 most played video list. "Innocent" peaked at #42 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in February 1996.
In 2001, they released the second album (''ABW'') with hit singles "Goes Around Comes Around" and "Wait in Summer". Because of musical differences and clash of
artistic interest, Cream left the band in 2005.
Albums
*''The Battle of Adwa'' (1995)
*''ABW'' (2001)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Swedish musical groups
Swedish people of Ethiopian descent
English-language singers from Sweden