In the Media

Extract translated from original text in Japanese by Keiichi Konishi

"...However, this new work features two songs by Faytinga, a female singer from the same region, and has a stronger Eritrean flavour than the above work, and the overall sound is more tense (a relaxed scale feeling)... Featured here is Faytinga, a female singer who has participated in the Eritrean war of Independance (Independence in 1993) as a female fighter. With her well-rounded and relaxed singing voice, she sings impressively about her land, and it seems that the various problems facing this country (which appears to have been a dictatorship for many years) can be seen through it..." 

https://jazztokyo.org/reviews/cd-dvd-review/post-82097/

Eritrean journalist Awet Aregay recently published a video report about my collaboration with trumpeter Hermon Mehari following the release of his album "Asmara" on 19 November 2022. Interviews and footage of both Hermon and myself were recorded around a rehearsal session in advance of the concert at the Trans Musicales that took place in Rennes 9 December 2022.

Hermon Mehari has been nominated "foreign musician“ of the year by Jazznews and Jazz Magazine

Great article from Elodie Maillot on RFI Musique about the performance of several african women artists including me at the Trans Musicales of Rennes 2022

https://musique.rfi.fr/musique-africaine/20221212-trans-musicales-rennes-puissance-femmes-africaines-scene

"The trumpeter also invites a singer, whom he introduces as ” a legend of Eritrean music “. This is Faytinga, a singer and activist from Asmara, performing the great “Tanafaqit”, a nostalgic song. The singer lives in exile far from her country and like him, she hopes to return one day. But ” Eritrea is in a difficult situation, having been under a dictatorship for 30 years […] People cannot speak freely. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. So it’s a bit of hope explains Hermon Mehari. Given the war currently ravaging the country, particularly the Tigray region, the album Asmara is a declaration of love to Eritrea, full of hope for the future of its people."

https://newsbeezer.com/morroco/hermon-mehari-remembers-eritrea-in-the-asmara-album/

"Sur deux titres il a invité Faytinga, combattante au cours de la guerre d'indépendance de l'Érythrée, devenue l'une des voix les plus fortes et les plus populaires du pays. Dans la richesse culturelle d'Abyssinie on connaît bien le jazz éthiopien, Asmara nous propose une découverte éblouissante du folklore de divers peuples érythréens transposé dans un jazz contemporain novateur"

https://www.radiofrance.fr/fip/hermon-mehari-explore-ses-racines-erythreennes-sur-asmara-1411590

https://www.200worldalbums.com/post/eritrea-numey-faytinga

Eritrean singer Dehab Faid Tinga - popular known as Faytinga - recently released a new single, ‘Besela’ (loosely translated as 'a scar') that talks about love and pain. Currently based in Nyon, Switzerland the artist is also currently working on her fourth album.

This text provides an overview of popular music in Eritrea.
Eritrea’s popular music scene is widely regarded as starting in the 1960s. The Eritrean music scene boomed with the arrival of Kagnew Station, a US army radio installation in the capital Asmara, which aired American music to the public. The sounds of 1960s western pop had a profound effect, and from that time on, stars such as Bereket Mengisteab helped cement Eritrea as a musical force in the region.

As a member of the egalitarian Kunama people, Dehab Faytinga fought for the recognition and representation of Eritreans and the Kunama people. Faytinga became heavily involved in Eritrea’s political atmosphere by gaining extensive training and working for a government department to create the first Kunama radio program. Her work only continued as she was elected as a member of the National Union of Eritrean Women in the district of Tokombia..

MUSIQUE - La chanteuse Faytinga est une star de la chanson en Erytrée et elle sera l'invitée artiste de la soirée "Personnalité 2015" ce jeudi soir à 19 heures à l'Usine à Gaz de Nyon.

"La voix musicale de l'Erythrée habite à Nyon", article de David Glaser dans la Côte, publié le 9 octobre 2015

It is true that many individuals renowned for their unique contributions in different disciplines, scientific innovations, artists and many more are born talents observed to demonstrate their talent from early childhood with minimum level and developing it through time either through education or through the hard way, trial and error. The young Eritrean artists we observe now-a-days displaying their innovative works during national occasions and festivals develop their carrier through researches and trials. The same applies when we come to artistic works. Our guest today is one of the renowned Eritrean artists who did not get formal education on the field but developed her talent with time through practice.

The link between gender-based violence and HIV as both a cause and consequence of HIV is increasingly recognized. Studies show that women living with HIV are particularly vulnerable to sexual, physical and psychological violence, reporting violations of their sexual and reproductive rights, including coerced abortion and forced sterilization. Addressing gender-based violence is therefore critical to preventing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

Dahab Faytinga, a former Eritrean freedom fighter turned musician, has been instrumental in promoting the Kunama language and culture to a global audience. Dahab, who is half Kunama on her father's side and Tigrinya on her mother's side, is the daughter of Faytinga; a celebrated war hero who was among the first Eritreans to fight for the country's independence. Faytinga in Kunama means the "fighting gun".

This CD is particularly interesting and attractive, since music from Eritrea is rare. The artist is a lady described by a French observer as ‘somewhat the equivalent of a comrade-in-arms of Charles de Gaulle, with the talent of Edith Piaf and the beauty of Brigitte Bardot (at her peak!), Eritrean version’.

Little music has been heard from Eritrea, a small country on the north east coast of Africa, by Western ears in recent years. Eritreans have had other things to deal with than releasing their music out into the wilder world, like years of war with neighbouring Ethiopia and a struggle for independence.

Musica dei Popoli e il festival fiorentino, giunto quest'anno alla 29 edizione, organizzato da FLOG, che presenta al pubblico quanto di piu significativo avviene nel campo della produzione musicale di ispirazione tradizionale del mondo.

I sing about peace, love, and togetherness, since war, conflict and other disturbances did not bring any positive change to Africa, but it only creates refugee crisis, pains, agony, discomfort and economic hardship. I bring a music of hope to the people.

Eritrea’s Faytinga was a fighter for the EPLF before she became a famous singer. Katharina Lobeck catches up with her in Paris.

L'Érythréenne Faytinga est venue à la chanson après treize ans de lutte armée contre l'Éthiopie. Portrait d'une guerrière à la voix douce.

Faytinga, la « soul sister » d’Erythrée comme on l’appelle souvent à Asmara, est avant tout une kunama (communauté ethnique matriarcale du nord-est du pays). « Chez les Kunamas, on ne fait rien comme les autres, explique-t-elle avec orgueil. Les femmes sont les égales des hommes, elles choisissent leur mari et personne n’irait reprocher à une jeune fille kunama d’avoir un enfant avant le mariage. ». Faytinga revendique sa propre identité musicale : « Le rythme kunama existe depuis si longtemps que je n’ai besoin de rien d’autre. ».

Peut-on avoir les traits aussi purs et la voix aussi claire après tant d'années de guerre ? Faytinga a 39 ans, dont quatorze passés dans la guérilla indépendantiste érythréenne.

Faytinga e una delle cantanti piu note della musica eritrea, forse la piu amata nel suo paese. A 14 anni e entrata nela lotta di liberazione dall'Ettiopia, ed ha cambattuto fino al 1991. Faytinga e un simbolol di tutta l'Eritrea, e della lotta per l'emancipazione delle donne africane.