My name is Sintayehu Zenebe Desalegn aka Mimi Zenebe aka Ethiopian Edit Piaf. I am Ethiopia-Canadian Musician and I have been singing since I was nine years old. My family is known for signing, dancing and playing different kinds of Ethiopian traditional music instruments. For example, my brother plays a Masinko and that is when I started to sing with him. We started in Kazanchis, where most of the Azmari bars and clubs are located and opened from dawn to dusk. Kazanchis is a part of Addis Abeba that attracts audiences from all over the city, the nation and even from outside of Ethiopia.
Duka Traditional Club
At that time, when we were going to different bars and clubs to perform and sing our traditional folk music. After a while, I have opened a club called “ሚሚ የባህል ምሽት” Mimi’s Traditional Nightclub that was small but well presented and hired 15 different musicians from different backgrounds such as Singers, Dancers, Different Traditional Instrument Players, Waiters and Bartender.
We were all teenagers and very distinctive in the way we sang, danced and dressed. Then we have started to attract more and more audiences and started to show our talent and strong friendship with customers and between us. We became famous and known for our courage to introduce our unique performances and dancing abilities that created and drew in the celebrities from inside and outside the country.
Celebrity Status
My celebrity status changed when the club became known. As a consequence, it allowed me to introduce myself to famous Ethiopian music composers, well-known musicians and studio owners. Then I made my first full album, Ante Gulimaw “አንተ ጉልማው”, collection with Yawikal Ashagray who was also an upcoming young artist at that time. Some of the songs made it to the top charts national wide.
My first solo album
I established myself with those songs and cleared the way to make my first solo album, Habeshaw Gininu ” ሃበሻው ጅንኑ” which transformed me to become a well-known singer in the country. This album also allowed me to do different concerts and introduced me to Ethio Alliance Francis. This step made my club familiar to foreigners in the country and to different visitors who enjoyed live performances and offered them very good cultural aspects of the vibrant Azmari life in my club and Alliance Ethio Français Cultural Institute. The institute created an Azmari night ” አዝማሪ ምሽት” and invited me to perform once a month with my fellow musicians and other foreign performers such as musicians, dancers and instrument players.
Concerts and Festivals
Shortly, I performed my first concert outside of the country. Alliance Ethio Français arranged and staged it with some musicians in Djibouti. I was excited and engaged in my first concert in Djibouti. That experience motivated me to move to a bigger space since I need to accommodate more customers to see our live performances in my club. The new club is called Duka Traditional Night Club “ዱካ የባህል ምሽት”. The name and the club catapulted me to another level of celebrity status that created the club to be one of the best visited and talked spots in Addis Abeba.
The club was so popular that people came and queued to enter. I have also organized live concerts inside the club once a month by inviting other traditional musicians, dancers and traditional club owners to participate and exposing them to audiences. I also started to work with DJs from different countries coming and performing in the club every two months which exposed me and the club international.
Part of a Band
In 2007, a friend, Hiruy Ariefayne, and a musician, Dan Harper, were at the club where they recorded me while I was performing that night to the audience. The recorded voice has introduced me to Nick Page aka Dubulah who is a world-renowned producer and musician. Nick created a group called Dub Colossus and invited us to the UK to record an album under Real World Record Company. I am one of the lead vocalists in the group.
In 2013, I have made a music video Abo Jebagn in Addis Abeba and the second clip Enekele in 2020.
Albums
- Our first album is called in a town called Addis in 2008.
- The second album is Addis through the looking glass in 2011.
Music Clips
Present Day
Since 2013, I came to Canada and settled in Toronto to start a new life as a Canadian. Still, I am taking part in concerts and festivals in different parts of the country to promote and perform my music.