Roots Archives Forum

it's sometimes very funy because alot of the reggae artists obviously like to be original and use african words but they don;t always get them right! a classic example is Satta Massa Ghana, i forget what it was they where trying to say but they got it all wrong and jumbled up, but i don't think that mattered too much as the song stands up as one of the greatest reggae songs ever.

They wanted to say "give thanks".
But "Satta" means "gave", and "amassagana" is the usual way the thank somebody. ("I thank you" is "amassaganalo"). To thank the Lord, the amharic speaking ethiopians use the form "Yim mas gan".
It's like Peter Tosh's song "Igziabeher", which is translated "Let Jah be praised". Actually, it only means "God".

I just confirmed from Wkipedia that Mutabaruka is infact Rwandese(Banyarwanda??not sure if that refers to only the pple and not the language) for "one who is always victorious".A Rwandese friend of mine shares the name and will probably be chuffed to find out a legend adopted it.
Burning Spear doesnt mean Jomo Kenyatta(which isn't swahili either but has a convoluted and often disputed Kikuyu origin and isn't his "birth" or should i say his colonial name either).Burning Spear is just his nickname.
Ruff,i guess that problem is mainly with Amharic as Swahili tends to be very straight-forward and easy to translate.You'd probably have to try to get swahili words wrong and it also has no original written language and is read exactly as it is written using the English alphabet.
Due to the herb and a rapidly growing but humble collection,i can't immediately share more swahili references in roots music(of which there is still so much to go through)but i'm sure I've heard a few here and there.It's definitely something me and my roots-loving Kenyan friends will discuss tonight.
Speaking of Winston Rodney,he held a great capacity FREE concert in Nairobi for which we are very grateful.I dare say more Kenyans are more familiar with the artist than the fact that our founding president actually bore that name!Over here(well,here in heart,as i'm in the UK now)Burning Spear is Winston Rodney and the origin of his name probably fascinates us as much as any foreigner unless 1 is extremely interested in his local history.
Anbessa,might you be Ethiopian/Eritrean by any chance?There's a huge Ethiopian population in Kenya and especially where i lived.Ironically they never quite shared our passion for reggae.Is this representative of the scene in Ethiopia or just the ones i met?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C61K6Buugk

This is a totally irrelevant link as far as the topic goes but i just couldnt help myself!If Kenyans love reggae,they adored Joseph Hill!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAGUYhwC ... ed&search=

Hi Worsesooner,
thanks for these informations, I had been wondering for a long time...
You're right, "banyarwanda" are the people from Rwanda. Their language is called "kinyarwanda".
Concerning my origins, I don't have any ethiopian roots (yes, of course, there's my great grand mother Lucy, but she's everybody's ancestor ), but I've been travelling in this fabulous country some years ago. I love their language and culture, so I spent my time asking questions and reading. Of course, I asked about "Satta amassagana"...
Concerning reggae in Ethiopia, you're right, it's nothing there compared to many other african countries (I've never been to Kenya, but I've travelled in West Africa, where roots is everywhere). People don't even know Bob Marley ! (Of course this is not true for the rastas in Shashamane, but it's something totally different). But it's not that surprising, because I'm quite sure that Mengistu's regime, the Derg, was not very keen on promoting a music whose lyrics glorified Selassie.
There are now some ethiopian reggae artists (Zeleke Gessesse, Cha Chi,...) but they're based in the US.
Funny how Joseph Hill was a hero for African audiences. In Ghana, Burkina, Mali, Ivory Coast, he's also one of the very favourite artists, alongside Burning Spear and U Roy. And of course Bob.

Last year there was huge Bob Marley festival wich was a month long in Ethiopia centered in Addis Ababa .Many,many thousands enjoyed a month of film,music,teachings,fund raisings.Then there was a huge free concert on his Bob's birthday.Then the celebrations moved to Shashemene for more music and culture celebrating roots and Bob.Peace.