Blogtrotters

Friday, June 27, 2014

Emilia Mitiku - Winter [EP] [2012] [swe+ethiopia]





Emilia Mitiku - Winter Beach


       Emilia Rydberg also known as Emilia Mitiku (born 5 January 1978, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish pop music and soul singer, mostly known for her hit, “Big Big World”. Emilia was discovered in 1996 by Lars Anderson, son of ABBA’s manager, Stig Anderson.

         Rydberg’s father is Ethiopian singer Teshome Mitiku, and her mother is Swedish. She used an alias of Emilia in the first years of her career but in 2012 she has started to perform under the name of Emilia Mitiku using her father’s surname. 

      She was exposed to a unique mix of cultures throughout her youth, reared by a Swedish mother and Ethiopian father. The traditional Ethiopian music and jazz that filled the house, thanks to her musical father, introduced Emilia to the joys of singing and performance early on. She decided on a life in music at the age of ten after one of her father's concerts, and was accepted into the Adolf Fredriks Music School in Stockholm shortly thereafter. 





       She studied classical music there for eight years, playing soul and pop music on the side. Emilia was discovered by Lars Anderson (son of ABBA member Stig Anderson) in 1996. Together she and Anderson set to work writing and recording what would become her debut record. Though finding time between work and her studies at university was difficult, the hard work paid off with the release of Emilia's debut single, "Big Big World," in September 1998. 

      The song became the fastest-selling single in Swedish history, attaining gold status after six days on the air, and platinum status five days after that. The song quickly went on to win fans all over Europe, dominating charts from Norway to Turkey. The full-length record Big Big World hit shelves in 1999, ultimately selling over a million copies. Her self-titled follow-up drew a producer and songwriters from the highest levels of the pop music industry. Though Emilia did not rule the pop charts as its predecessor had, the artist enjoyed the high sales and first-rate touring that come only with international stardom. 


      After a long period of silence, Emilia returned to the spotlight in 2007 with her third original release, Sma Ord Av Karlek, on the the independent Bonnier label rather than the behemoth Universal, which was responsible for her two previous records. In 2009, Emilia entered a competition to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest. 





12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is well written. It's too bad there's no easier way to connect with you. We're working on African music projects and I like to talk to you. How can I reach you?

2b0rn0t0b said...

hi Xavier,

my mail is 2b0rn0t0b@gmail.com

greetings from Serbia

Anonymous said...

Thanks. But sorry for the confusion, the comment was meant for the owner of the website.

Deepአቢሲኒያ said...

lots of thank for the info and cool tracks. Most of us knew her by the song " big big world" , which was a hit on most local radio stations... some few year back.

Adam said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Feilimid O'Broin said...

I have been trying to download this EP for several days but Zippyshare responds that the file doesn't exist on the server. Could you re-post the link? I love all of the music that you post and have written before about the uniqueness of this blog and your posting of music from and in the languages of all of the ethnic groups from Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, I find especially intriguing the music of artists and musicians from the Ethiopian and Eritrean diaspora whether they be in Israel, the United States, Sweden, or elsewhere.

I treasure this blog because it makes accessible music that I had to previously search for in Ethiopian grocery stores or order from Addis Ababa over the past twenty six years. I would encounter the bemused stares of clerks and owners who, no doubt wondered why a European American with no knowledge of Amharic or Tigrinya, or any other language spoken in Ethiopia, who had never been to Ethiopia was doing in their stores. They would be surprised when I began discussing the music I liked and were always incredibly helpful but the limitation in buying music that way is that one's choices are restricted by the ethnicity or preferences of the owner or staff. What is incredibly helpful about this blog is that I can listen to an expansive range of music and decide what I like well enough to buy before ordering it from Amazon.com or Addis Ababa. There is no other blog like it on the web.

To think I began listening to this music in the 1980s because Theodros Mitiku's "Hasabe" was always playing during my meals at an Ethiopian- Eritrean restaurant in San Francisco. I purchased a home made cassette that was labeled The Theodros Band from the manager and knew nothing more about the musician until I discovered your post of the recording. The following year, I relocated to Dallas and began listening to the great Aster Aweke and Mahmoud Ahmed before buying Gigi's "Tsehay" which at the time was only available on cassette. From many visits to grocery stores in Dallas and then Washington, D. C., I broadened my taste and knowledge but they were still limited because information in English about the music was limited until the Ethiopiques series was released in this country. I even purchased two courses in Amharic from the Foreign Service Institute before they were offered free on the web so I could better understand the lyrics. That was fifteen years ago and I vow to get to learning it one of these days until then I joyfully listen to the music and voice without understanding all of the lyrics. In brief, many, many thanks for the energy and passion you expend in maintaining this blog.
It provides both an education about as well many offerings of the music I enjoy so much.

2b0rn0t0b said...


link is down, indeed. I will re-up this EP a.s.a.p.

Felimid, thanks for your kind words, and inspired text. It means so much to me. I will post some more music of ethiopian diaspora.

Regards from Serbia!

2b0rn0t0b said...



new link : http://www76.zippyshare.com/v/71086861/file.html


Feilimid O'Broin said...

Many, many thanks for posting a new link and for the new posts from singers in the diaspora. I have been listening to Meklit Hadero in particular since I discovered her playing with Quinn DeVeaux on a late night public television show several years ago. Among other songs, she sang a wonderful version of Talking Heads' 'This Must Be The Place: Naive Melody,' one of my favorite songs, and I was hooked.
She has five recordings and I still have to purchase three of them.

To me, Hadero's mixing of genres is indicative of other Ethiopian artists in Canada, Israel, Sweden, and the United States and reflects their immense talent and willingness to innovate by mixing traditional music with hip-hop, jazz, soul, rhythm and blues, and other influences from the music of the countries to which they have emigrated.

Feilimid O'Broin said...

Many, many thanks for posting a new link and for the new posts from singers in the diaspora. I have been listening to Meklit Hadero in particular since I discovered her playing with Quinn DeVeaux on a late night public television show several years ago. Among other songs, she sang a wonderful version of Talking Heads' 'This Must Be The Place: Naive Melody,' one of my favorite songs, and I was hooked.
She has five recordings and I still have to purchase three of them.

To me, Hadero's mixing of genres is indicative of other Ethiopian artists in Canada, Israel, Sweden, and the United States and reflects their immense talent and willingness to innovate by mixing traditional music with hip-hop, jazz, soul, rhythm and blues, and other influences from the music of the countries to which they have emigrated.

Feilimid O'Broin said...

I hope that, in order to obtain recording contracts, they are not marginalized by being 'categorized' by record companies, especially those here in the United States, in a way that emphasizes generic commercial appeal over innovation and creativity. Unfortunately I have already seen that happen with a few artists and the result is a commercialized rhythm and blues that makes their music almost indistinguishable from that of other rhythm and blues artists. The genius of Ethiopian music is de-emphasized or removed altogether to make the music less "exotic' and more marketable. I suspect if record companies had their way and the Ethiopiques series and his contributions to movie soundtracks, such as the 'Broken Flowers' soundtrack, had not already established an international reputation and audience, as well as a general interest in Ethiopian jazz, Mulatu Astatke would have been compelled to play smooth or Latin jazz in order to secure a contract in the United States.

I also greatly enjoy the Eritrean music posts. For lingering political reasons, Eritrean music is often not as accessible as Ethiopian music here and your coverage of it and Oromo music has been great. Similarly, the posts of Somali music have been as interesting and enjoyable. Thank you for the hours of pleasure I have garnered from this site. I look forward to every post and the opportunity to hear such as wide variety of music. The site is a compass steering me taste-wise in the right direction when purchasing music in the various languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea and, in the case of Amharic and Eritrean music, a syllabary which would otherwise be an obstacle to easily discovering newer artists whose music I have not yet heard.

Were I asked, I would be hard-pressed to accurately describe why this music appeals to me so much,or as you more aptly put it, why I have a passion for it. I am not a musician and lack an adequate vocabulary to describe the composition of the music. However, were I to attempt to describe the basis for the 'passion', I'd have to start with the sensuality and calming effect or intrinsic serenity the music conveys. For me, listening to it is like drinking a glass of tej after a really great meal. One feels both relaxed and immensely satisfied. Add to that the chills that run down my spine when I listen to, for example, Aster Aweke's version of 'Tizita' or Gigi's 'Ethiopia', or the artfulness of Mahmoud Ahmed's phrasing, in a word, the bliss from listening to the great vocalists, and the complexity of Astatke's and other artists' instrumental music and I still fall short of conveying how immensely enjoyable the listening experience is not only to me but to friends to whom I have introduced the music. For example, one friend in Dallas played the tape of Mitiku's "Hasabe' so much over a period of five years that she wore it out and I had to re-record it for her before I found the compact disc here. I've rambled a bit too much here but please regard it as an attempt to describe the allure of this site and my appreciation for the work you do to share your passion. Sometimes words are inadequate when music reaches one's inner being.

2b0rn0t0b said...



hey, Feilimid, don't hesitate to write every time you want, I like to hear about your experience and fascination regarding Ethiopian and Eritrean music.

I am glad you like my blog. I must admit that my expectations were very low when I started this blog, but as I can see, there is more and more people who appreciate this blog.