Music
Music
Photo by Naomi Ishisaka
Gabriel Teodros is a musician and writer from South Seattle who first made a mark with the group Abyssinian Creole, and reached an international audience with his critically-acclaimed solo debut Lovework. He has been setting stages on fire ever since, all across the US, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Ethiopia and South Africa; often in combination with workshops on creative writing, music, history, science fiction and media literacy.
His latest album, From The Ashes of Our Homes, opens with a reflection on the day Teodros and his spouse Ijeoma Oluo fled from an actual house fire, and expands to a full-length meditation on the loss of home and safety so many of us experienced these last few years as a result of wars, the pandemic, the climate catastrophe, and more - and how do we build something new from the ashes of all of our collective homes.
Picking up where 2018's History Rhymes If It Doesn't Repeat (A Southend Healing Ritual) left off, Ashes is another collective exercise in moving through trauma, this time made in connection with Teodros' long-standing partner in rhyme Khingz (of Abyssinian Creole), who's new album A Safe Place For Us was created in concert with Ashes. The two albums each tell a story on their own, and a greater story when you play them back to back. Other vocalists on the LP include Meklit, Aisha Fukushima, Sarah MK, Nikkita Oliver, Rell Be Free, Dakota Camacho, Ian Kamau, Jennifer Johns (who collaborated on a heartfelt dedication to both Rahwa Habte and Gift of Gab), and narration by Tigrayan poet BeeLyn Naihiwet.
Ashes also sees Teodros’ introduction to the world as a producer, alongside key musical contributions from Northwest legends like Vitamin D, Ahamefule J. Oluo, and more.
Ashes was preceded by 2020’s COVID-era lost tapes compilation What We Leave Behind, 2018’s History Rhymes If It Doesn't Repeat (an album that made NPR say "Gabriel Teodros is one of the bravest rappers currently working in Seattle"), and 2014’s Evidence Of Things Not Seen, a James Baldwin-inspired collaboration with Aotearoa-based producer SoulChef that was described by critics as Teodros’ strongest album yet, after a decade of notable releases that also include Colored People's Time Machine, Children Of The Dragon, and CopperWire's Earthbound.
In 2020, Teodros launched the show Early on KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle, which he hosted 5 days a week for the next 3 years, eventually passing the show on to make more time for his own music, a new podcast entitled Worldwide Underground, and to co-teach a class in the University of Washington’s Honors department titled Lovework, an Unfinished Syllabus, named for Teodros’ 2007 LP and inspired by the work of bell hooks.
In 2015, Teodros made his speculative fiction debut with a story published in Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, and in 2016 he graduated from the Clarion West Writers Workshop for Speculative Fiction. His writing has also been published by The Feminist Wire and Okayafrica.
For more information log on to www.gabrielteodros.com
