Mikiyas Mengistu, who goes by the stage name Ebne Hakim, released his debut EP ‘Brana.’ In this EP, the listener is transported through a six part series with tracks that tell a riveting and powerful story of a young man trying to figure life out in the midst of love troubles, despair and needing to accept a reality that goes contrary to his expectations of the world.
Ebne’s storytelling abilities combined with the instrumental elements infused in these songs are unapologetically Ethiopian while leaving room for the foreign ear to still digest a carefully curated musical experience.
‘Brana’ is a breathtaking musical mosaic that illustrates Alternative R&B, Pop and traditional Ethiopian sounds into one collective. You have never heard R&B take this form and certainly have not seen Ethiopian music within this lens. Ebne is a storyteller that comes from the traditions of poets who have a powerful gift of evoking emotions and imagery with their articulation of language. This EP reflects an inflection point in the Ethiopian music industry, where contemporary sounds meet treasured musical traditions.
Before the release of this EP, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ebne Hakim and the CEO of Bana records, Blen Mekonnen.
What inspired the stage name Ebne Hakim?
EBNE: The name was inspired by King Solomon from Israel and Queen Sheba from Ethiopia. So they had a love child called Menelik, but he's also known as Ebna Hakim. So that name was the inspiration for me. But it wasn't intentional to the point where it became my stage name or something.
It was more like I used to use it for this Telegram channel where I used to post a lot of poetry, poems and stuff like that. So I didn't want people to know that it was me.
So growing up in Ethiopia, I'm curious as to what kind of music you were listening to as a child?
EBNE: I grew up in my grandma's house with my uncles and my aunts. So I had various exposures to a lot of different artists. So like my uncle might come up and open MJ or Whitney Houston, and my auntie might come and open some of the local (Ethiopian) artists like Ejigayehu Shibabaw (Gigi) and Teddy Afro. Growing up seeing that, I kind of took it in as like every artist was like, you know, one. In one stage, to the point where I see Michael Jackson and the local artists and I think, like, they're from the same roots.
I also used to listen to a lot of rap music. Eminem was someone that I constantly used to listen to. A lot of rap music, like J Cole. And of course RnB, Chris Brown and Usher. I was listening to a lot of artists.
What was the path or the journey to eventually discovering that you actually have a passion for music?
EBNE: It was really more like people wanted me to rap for them. And in my mind it was like everyone can do it, you know. I didn't know why it was such a big deal that people wanted me to perform or sing for them or rap for them. It was a casual thing for me because I liked doing it.
[Music] was always there. I can't pinpoint to the point where I can only say that I started making music professionally, the moment I started working on this project [is] the only answer I could actually give you to that, to how I started. But as long as I can remember, music was there.
Could you discuss a little bit about signing with Bana Records. How did this partnership come about? And what is it about this label that distinguishes it from others in Ethiopia?
EBNE: Me and Noh Sead Ahmednur, the producer that made this with me. It was just the two of us working on this project. And after we finished working on it, we contacted Blen Mekonnen, CEO of Bana Records. She heard it and she was like, “we gotta have it on Bana, we cannot let it go.”
And seeing how committed Bana is to the vision. How much they believed in the arts, how much they believed in my artistry, kind of lifted me in ways that, you know, it was too early to have people believing me to the point where they literally like to invest everything they had in the project. And yeah, I was sold by that. It was the belief that they had for the music that literally made Bana feel like home for me.
And Blen, what was it about Ebne that made you want to have him on the label in the first place?
BLEN MEKONNEN: To be honest, when we started Bana, we had a lot we had to change in a lot of ways in terms of our vision, our structure and everything.
And it's been three years since we started, but like one year into our establishment we were kind of going with a specific direction that we were sure about in terms of sound. In terms of how we wanted the label to be. But when it comes to sound there was always this type of sound that we wanted that we couldn't put into words or anything but when I first heard of this project, I was like ‘okay that's it, you know what I mean. So it just kind of clicked.’
So it was like, okay, we got our sound. This is our sound. This is what we want to help push. So it's kind of like fate working its way into crystallizing this vision.
You just signed a licensing agreement with Sony Music Entertainment Africa, how did that partnership come about in the first place? And what about Sony Music made you feel like this was the right partnership to embark upon?
BLEN: When we were setting up Bana, we set it up in a way to sort of help take Ethiopian music global.
So that was our goal, main focus and our main vision. There's a certain type of musical caliber that we need to be representing in order to say we are working on this mission. At the same time, while we're also figuring out the sound, we were also figuring out the type of partnerships or the type of plug in place that we would need in order to achieve the goal and achieve our mission.
Christine ‘Seven’ Mosha, East African Marketing and A&R director of Sony music Africa, we met around three years back and we were discussing ways that Sony can improve and intervene in the market. And then when I found [Ebne], I contacted her and we got to explore the partnership and that's how it started.
Ebne, you spoke a little bit about your poetry background and I'm curious about how that translated into songwriting, specifically touching on the process of going from beyond just a flow to melody?
EBNE: It’s more like an instinct as they say, because it just happened, the music just happened to me.
I had a lot of practice when it comes to writing, like telling stories and narrating this image in people's head. But when it comes to writing a song, it was an instinct.
Who or what are some musical influences that have inspired your sound and your approach to create art?
EBNE: It’s both local and international artists. From local, we got huge artists like Teddy Afro. So how he writes his poems and how he kind of narrates the story, I grew up hearing that type of music. That had a bigger impact on me. Including Ejigayehu Shibabaw (Gigi), she is a very talented Ethiopian artist. She had a very huge impact on me.
And right back to Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars. It was all that, R&B, pop-ish kind of music that literally took my heart away to make music like that.
You released three tracks as preludes to your EP “Brana.” What was the decision behind choosing to release “Gela” as your first single then subsequently releasing the intro and interlude of your upcoming EP?
EBNE: The original plan was to drop something, uh, Ethiopian, you know. Something to dance through, something to show the culture. But we had a team meeting with Sony, and the decision really came down to Gela because it was a type of song where it kind of eases into your ears and the heart. It kind of speaks to people in certain ways that like a lot of hype songs can't. I think if I was in the audience hearing Gela for the first time would be something that I would never forget.
It was the right decision to make because it was something new even in Ethiopia. I think it's the first of its kind. I don't think I've ever heard music like Gela, and how it kind of tells this story in such a way and how it's performed in an Amharic language. We wanted to release something that was different and unique.
Gela, is that the name of a girl?
EBNE: So when it comes to the Amharic language, it kind of has two meanings. When you say, so when you say it strongly and when you say it softly, it kind of has two meanings. So, it's a very unique language.
Gela kind of signifies a body, particularly a naked body. So that's what Gela means, uh, but when you say it strongly, it means the one that kills.
In your interlude “Yehuna,” we hear different instruments and elements converge to create sounds of a thunderstorm and rain drops in the background. These sounds convey a sense of gloom and despair that lead one to seek rest as a way of dealing with their troubles. What was the thought process behind the production of this track, from both a visual, instrumental and lyrical standpoint? And what did you hope listeners took away from this record?
EBNE: Yehuna is part of that storytelling. The track where EBNE Hakim and his journey kind of accepts reality for what it is, you know, sees the world for what it is. So, Yehuna means in English, ‘let it be.’
It comes from his expectation and reality kind of like having different ends, and he was smack in the middle of both choices and it was like, you know what, let it be, let it be like that. It kind of makes it perfect to accept this change. Sonically and with visuals it was a very conscious and self aware decision. Both the rain, the thunder, and that really sad face that he had inside of the car. So that really amplifies what Ebne Hakim was feeling at that moment.
And Blen, what was the thought process behind choosing to put a visual behind this track?
BLEN: Coming up with the visualizers was actually a very exciting process because Ebne had a whole storyline lined out for us to tell a story.
When he wrote the project, every track had chronologically envisioned, like, stories. So, for example, like, when you go from, like, the first track to the second to the third and fourth, there’s this storyline where Ebne Hakim goes through. He just shows us what he feels inside in terms of storyline.
So there was a story to be told and we were like, okay, how do we best do this? We need to have visuals for every track that represents the story behind it. He did have the work, we picked it up and we were like, how do we showcase this visually?
I love what you all did here. The production of the track itself I remember when I first heard it. I was just like wow, like there's just something about the way in which everything ties together. It just works so well to convey the message that you were trying to showcase even for somebody who didn't understand the language.
In your Intro “Brana,” we see you take a similar approach of incorporating various elements into the track that provoke a sensory experience that invokes weather and nature, as can be heard from the inclusion of birds chirping at the beginning of the track. When you create your music are you trying to curate a specific immersive experience for the listener?
EBNE: A lot is put in that sort of process because for music, the first instinct is what you feel when you hear that music. You know, what comes to mind is how it makes you feel. So, uh, Noh being the genius that he is, the producer, he's very careful with those types of things.
And he's very talented when it comes to having that level of understanding what the music requires. And, you know, me having something to kind of tell to the audience, to the fans and people that are listening to the music, it kind of makes it feel like it's natural. When you hear music, it's what it makes you feel, where it takes you, what you see in your head, how you felt when you were in that moment. Being rooted in that exact place where Ebne Hakim is telling that story from.
And all these elements have their own purpose to serve. We put a lot of thought into it. When it comes to adding things like that and giving the listeners something to literally feel and experience from their point of view, not just from us.
Are there any traditional Ethiopian musical elements, be it instruments, sounds or rhythms that we can expect to hear on this EP?
EBNE: Of course, man. ‘Gela’ has a very Ethiopian element to it. How I kind of approached the song was really Ethiopian when it comes to the melodies, the emotions, and building up the instrumentals. The actual instrumentals where you hear Kirar, Washint, and even the Kebero. You hear a lot of those Ethiopian and homemade sounds.
Even with the literature, it was really based on what we are used to and how all the greats have done it before. It was everything from home to the global, you know, even the beat pattern of that song. Even the story was about an Ethiopian young man.
You primarily, if not exclusively, sing in Amharic (a language spoken in Ethiopia). Do you worry about your ability to translate across markets, both in the continent and globally, where most people will not be able to understand your lyrics?
BLEN: I would love to say that language is not a barrier because, for example, there is music that you only listen to for the beat to make you be able to dance to a song or like to be able to connect with a song.
And this music is for me sound wise, It's a 360 experience. From a lyric point of view, there's a storyline that it takes you through that has like multiple layers at the same time. So it's not one story. It's like there's another layer to it. The more you keep listening to them, the more you get to understand them. The more layers you get to peel. I feel like sound wise, we don't have a barrier because the sound he creates is very well palatable for like native Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians as well.
So sonically, we don't have to worry about barriers. But when it comes to the language, it's still that sonically people can connect to it.
If they don't understand the lyrics the way an Amharic speaking person would, there's still a bit of a gap that might be there, but overall we don't think the music would have any issues of connecting with people, even if the language is purely Amharic.
What can listeners expect to hear from your debut EP?
EBNE: Listeners can expect to have more like a fresh kind of sound when it comes to the production and the language. Where it's from, the music and the story that it's telling. They have a lot to look forward to when it comes to the culture. Me being a new artist, you know the journey, the storytelling and everything that's in between.
What does the future hold for Ebne Hakim?
EBNE: Seeing how much people are interested in hearing what the music is like, especially what I'm making. We plan on adding a little bit of English to it. We will have a more broad production when it comes to the sounds and show more Ethiopian [elements] as much as I can. But still make it palatable to the other listeners as well. So, there's a lot of exciting things on the way besides the debut EP.
BLEN: The sky's the limit for Ebne. He’s working on a second EP already. After that we'll have an album coming, a full album that completely showcases Ebne for the type of artist he is.
But yeah, there's a lot of work. He's working with multiple producers. We’re trying to connect with people internationally as well, so that his sound gets more international. There’s a lot to expect from Ebne over the coming years.
There is no doubt that we have a lot to expect from this incredible artist. Ebne is an extremely gifted storyteller, song-writer and vocalist who has taken on the mantle of ushering Ethiopia into a new musical era that creates for commercial and artistic viability outside of its borders. ‘Brana’ is an EP that requires all of our ears and can teach us a lot about the incredible musical talent that Ethiopia has to offer.
