Mizan K. | |
|---|---|
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument(s) | keyboards, vocals, synth |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Website | mizan |
Mizan K., known professionally as Mizan, is an Ethiopian singer, songwriter, videographer and producer. [1] Following a series of singles, she self-released her debut EP, Dark Blue in November 2015, which garnered attention for its minimalistic musical and performance style. [2] [1] [3] [4]
Mizan was raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and attended a higher music institution at a young age where she studied piano. [5] At home, her family collected Ethiopian-pop tapes, Soul, and Motown records, including works of Aster Aweke, Ella Fitzgerald, Bizunesh Bekele, Tilahun Gessesse, and Bettye Swann. [5] She learned to compose lyrics, poetry, and experimented with creating lo-fi productions, and performed regularly for friends and in talent shows during her time in high school. [5] [6] [7] Mizan moved to the United States to study literature. She moved to New York City in 2013. [5] [8]
In 2013, Mizan moved to New York where she continued work on music. Her free-styled cover songs" including "Crazy" by CeeLo Green, and "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers earned her 1st place at the Amateur Night in the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. [9] She soon set up a studio with long time collaborator The Brown Ghost to start recording a collection of tracks, which would later become Dark Blue. [10] Together, they produced and composed all the music and videos with an all DIY approach. [10] "Dissatisfied" with the limited and "sanitized romance" of pop music, the two combined "electronic", "keyboard elements," as well as traditional instruments to create a work that "looks to minimalism and relatability as the music's primary goals." [11] Mizan announced the completion of her EP in November 2015, by releasing all tracks as singles with videos alongside them, including "Thru" and "Looking For," in which Pitchfork noted Mizan's vocals as a "vibrato that glows over self-discovery" [12] The album became recognized by Rolling Stone as a "terrific six-song EP" that was "stark and frank," naming it one of 20 best R&B albums of the year. [13] Billboard dubbed the work as "a refreshing take on the human experience...discussed everything from anxiety as an inherent part of urban living to waking up to one's surrounding...with Mizan's voice as the glowing centerpiece" [1]
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| "No Fool" | 2013 | str8ngecreature | [14] |
| "Anxious" | [14] | ||
| "Looking For" | 2015 | str8ngecreature, Mizan, Hasabie | [14] |
| "Thru" | str8ngecreature, Hasabie | [14] | |
| "7 Billion" | 2016 | Mizan, str8ngecreature | [14] |
| "Awe" | Mizan | [14] |
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.
Aster Aweke is an Ethiopian singer-songwriter. Aster's voice has attracted broader public popularity, especially tracing back in 1990s singles and her single "Abebayehosh" in Ethiopian New Year. She is best known for her 1999 album Hagere and her 2006 album Fikir. She moved to the United States in 1981, and she returned to Ethiopia in 1997.
The culture of Ethiopia is diverse and generally structured along ethnolinguistic lines. The country's Oromo-speaking majority adhere to an amalgamation of traditions that were developed independently and through interaction with neighboring and far away civilizations, including other parts of Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, and other parts in East Africa. By contrast, the nation's Nilotic communities and other ethnolinguistic minorities tend to practice customs more closely linked with South Sudan and/or the African Great Lakes region.
"Jazz (We've Got)" is the second single from A Tribe Called Quest's second album The Low End Theory. The original material sampled in the song was provided by Pete Rock, and was then recreated in a similar way by Q-Tip. Although Pete Rock is not officially credited, Q-Tip credits him in the outro of the track, rapping "Pete Rock for the beat, ya don't stop."Rolling Stone lists "Jazz (We've Got)" on their list of 20 essential songs from the group. On their list of 10 lyrics that prove Phife Dawg's talent, Pitchfork included a rhyme from "Jazz (We've Got)": "Make sure you have a system with some phat house speakers / So the new shit can rock, from Bronx to Massapequa." The article notes that, "these kinds of stunt rhymes may not have been the most common component of Phife's lyrical arsenal, but they were usually the most 'oh shit' moments in any given verse, since they sounded so unexpected without really feeling forced."
Hermann Szobel is an Austrian former pianist and composer. He produced and recorded a single jazz fusion album, titled "Szobel," (1976) at the age of 18, demonstrating, in the words of a "Down Beat" reviewer, "a conception and technique far in advance of most musicians twice his age."
Ali Mohammed Musa, known professionally as Ali Birra, was an Ethiopian singer. He was regarded as the most popular Oromo icon, as well as an influential artist in the other regions and urban areas of Ethiopia. He had played a lot of songs in Amharic, Afar, Arabic and Somali languages. Ali was a celebrated as a poet and multi-instrumentalist.
Margaret Osborn, known professionally as Alice Glass, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the co-founder and former frontwoman of the electronic band Crystal Castles. In 2014, she embarked on a solo career. She released her eponymous debut EP in 2017. Her solo debut album, Prey//IV, was released in February 2022.
Claire Elise Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has incorporated influences from electronic music, hip hop, and rock. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. She has released five studio albums.
Endegna, previously known as Yegna, is an Ethiopian five-piece girl group, originated in Addis Ababa. The group gained prominence after releasing two singles, "Abet" (2013) and "Taitu" (2014). Their earlier lyrical contents reference female empowerment and opposition towards violence against women. After the successful hit "Fikir" in 2019, the group sought solo career, starting from Rahel Getu. They were once reunited with the promotional song "Yeabay Zemen Lijoch" for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in 2020. However, they resumed solo career afterward.
Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez, known professionally as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer based in Barcelona, Spain. She initially began releasing music under the name of Nuuro. After attending the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Ghersi first released the EP Baron Libre (2012) under the name Arca and subsequently released the EPs Stretch 1 and Stretch 2; the latter experimented with hip hop and brought her attention from prominent music publications.
Isobel Bizu Beardshaw, better known as Izzy Bizu, is a British-Ethiopian singer-songwriter signed to Epic Records. Bizu has garnered mainstream radio support from BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac and Phil Taggart and BBC Radio 1Xtra's Trevor Nelson. She has supported Coldplay, Sam Smith, Rudimental, and Foxes. In November 2015, Bizu was shortlisted for a Brit Critics' Choice award and longlisted for BBC's Sound of... 2016. She won the BBC Music Introducing Award at the 2016 ceremony. On 25 June 2016, Bizu performed on the Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival.
Bizunesh Bekele was an Ethiopian soul singer who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s of Golden Age. She was referred to as "Aretha Franklin of Ethiopia" due to similitude of musical style. Her songs were released in her native Amharic language.
Debo Band are a Boston-based Ethiopian music band led by saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by vocalist Bruck Tesfaye. Ranging from 10–12 members playing horns, guitars, violins, percussion, and accordion, their sound incorporates Ethiojazz, folk, and pop styles from the Horn of Africa infused with tinges of motifs from Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as punk, experimental, and psychedelic rock. Rolling Stone described Debo's sound as, "guitar solos, massed vocals, violin and brass [that] rush in like a Red Bulled marching band...Dance at your own risk."
Ravyn Lenae Washington is an American R&B singer-songwriter from Chicago who is currently signed to Atlantic Records and the Three Twenty Three Music Group. She is also a member of the musical collective Zero Fatigue. Her debut EP, Moon Shoes, was released independently in 2015 and reissued by Atlantic Records in 2016. Her follow-up EP, Midnight Moonlight, was released in 2017. In addition to performing at several music festivals, Lenae has also toured with SZA on her Ctrl Tour and Noname on her Telefone Tour.
"Sad Day" is a song by English singer FKA Twigs. Released on 9 November 2019 by Young Turks, it serves as the fourth and final single from Twigs' second studio album, Magdalene. The song was written and produced by Twigs, Koreless, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Nicolas Jaar, Skrillex and Noah Goldstein.
Serkalem Biset Abrha, also known as Abrha Serkalem Biset, is a runner from Ethiopia who competes in long distance running and has won several major international marathons.
Kabu is the second album by the Ethiopian singer Aster Aweke. It was released in 1991 via Columbia Records.
