Bole2Harlem was a musical collaboration that fused elements of

Ethiopian music Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes. The music of the Ethiopian Hig ...

with American hip hop. Bole2Harlem released one album, ''Bole2Harlem, Volume 1'', in 2006. David "Duke Mushroom" Schommer, a producer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

, founded the group with

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 ...

n singers Tigist Shibabaw (the late sister of singer Gigi) and Maki Siraj.Press release
on Rock Paper Scissors, (accessed November 23, 2014). The project's name refers to Bole, a neighborhood in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...

(and the site of

Bole International Airport Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is an international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is in the Bole district, southeast of the city centre and north of Bishoftu. The airport was formerly known as '' Haile Selassie I Internation ...

), and

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, where Schommer and Siraj were residents.

History

The project has its roots in L'Orange Bleue, a New York cafe popular with African expatriates and where Schommer, Siraj, and Shibabaw would congregate. Schommer had grown up immersed in Ethiopian culture: his father had helped establish a university in Ethiopia, and consequently the family home was filled with Ethiopian art and stories. Shibabaw and Siraj had made a recording after they met in 2005. Schommer, Shibabaw, and Siraj discussed an " Abesha MC" concept, with Shibabaw representing traditional Ethiopian styles (see '' Ethiopiques''), and Siraj representing new musical trends. Additional collaborators joined after hearing about the project through Schommer's other production activities. Schommer and Siraj also trace the concept to the transit culture of Addis Ababa, where

weyala A weyala () is a conductor who receives fares on minibus share taxis in Ethiopia. He also has the duty of informing potential passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any respo ...

s rapidly call out the destinations of

share taxi Share may refer to: * Share, to make joint use of a resource (such as food, money, or space); see Sharing * Share (finance), a stock or other financial security (such as a mutual fund) * Share, Kwara, a town and LGA in Kwara State, Nigeria Share ...

s (for example, "Bole, Bole, Bole, Bole..."). Schommer describes the idea of taking a New York taxicab and suddenly placing it and its passengers in Addis Ababa (thus, "Harlem, Harlem, Harlem, Harlem..."). The album cover art features a

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the ...

similar to the vehicles used as share taxis. Tigist Shibabaw died in early 2008 in

Bahar Dar Bahir Dar ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The ...

Discography

''Bole2Harlem, Volume 1''

Sounds of the Mushroom released ''Bole2Harlem, Volume 1'' in June 2006. White Swan Records reissued the album in June 2011. According to Schommer, the track "Hoya Hoye" exemplifies the crossing of Ethiopian and American cultures. He explains how the title is derived from a

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

-like celebration, in which children chant "Hoya, hoye, HO, hoya hoye, HO" while clapping and pounding sticks (see

Buhe Buhe ( Ge'ez: ቡሄ ''Buhē'') is a feast day observed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church on 19 August (13 Nahase in the Ethiopian calendar). On this date, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates the ...

). After hearing this chant sung in Addis Ababa, Schommer was further inspired by the beat of a hip-hop track he heard while walking through Harlem. During this same walk, he also heard a Gospel choir singing as he passed a church, and decided to add the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the v ...

("Feeling all right!") to the song. The

blues scale Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

heard on the song is actually an abbreviated Ethiopian scale. The track "Bole 2 Harlem" appears on the compilation album ''Un Automne 2007''. ;Track listing # "Bole 2 Harlem" - 4:12 # "Hoya Hoye" - 4:08 # "Enseralen" Gojo - 5:27 # "Ametballe" - 4:56 # "Hi Loga" - 4:19 # "Endegena" - 4:47 # "Home" - 5:55 # "Ya Selam" - 3:54 # "Aya Bellew" - 4:41 # "Harlem 2 Bole" - 2:28 # "Quralew" - 1:47 # "Ensaralen Gojo (Remix)" - 8:58 # "Africaye!" - 2:28 All Songs Written by: * D. Schommer: Music * M.Siraj, T.Shibabaw, D.Schommer: Lyrics Except: * #4, 11: D. Schommer: Music, M.Siraj: Lyric * #3, 12:D. Schommer: Music, J.Bashir, M.Siraj: Lyric * #6: D. Schommer: Music, M.Siraj, D.Vieira: Lyric ;Personnel * David "Duke Mushroom" Schommer - Vocals, drums, percussion, beats, bass, keyboards * Tigist Shibabaw - vocals * Maki Siraj - vocals * Fray - vocals, track 4 * Davi Vieira - vocals, percussion, track 5 *

Dave Eggar Dave Eggar is an American cellist, pianist and composer. Early life Eggar was a musical prodigy as a child, beginning to play the cello and piano at age three and performing as a singer and actor on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera at ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, #3 * Henok Temesgen -

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, tracks 4-5 * Robert Aaron - horns, tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 13 * Joewarn Martin - keyboards, tracks 2-7 *

Balla Tounkara Balla Tounkara is a kora player and singer from Mali. He was born in Mali into a family of ''griot''s, who traditionally played music to the kings of the Malian Empire in their royal court. He started to learn the kora as a child. Tounkara has re ...

kora Kora may refer to: Places India * Kora, Bardhaman, West Bengal * Kora, Bharuch, Gujarat * Korha, Katihar, also known as Kora, in Bihar * Kora, Kendrapara, Odisha * Kora, Wardha, Maharastra * Kora, Tumakuru, Karnataka * Toyaguda, Adilabad, Telan ...

, vocals, track 10 * Sam "Carpete" Effron -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

, tracks 1-3 * Gregg Fine - guitar, track 7 * Khalid M'Zouz - hand clapping, tracks 1-2, 7-10

Contributing artist

* '' The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia'' (2012,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" compet ...

)

References

External links

* (As cached by the Wayback Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bole2Harlem Ethiopian music Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 American hip hop groups