Fabulus Moolah | Lupercia, Kajsa Haidl & Yeshimebet Dubale

Yeshimebet Dubale was a prominent Ethiopian voice. At only 16 years of age, she was discovered by a music producer while performing at a small nightclub in Addis Abeba. By the late 1980s, she had become one of Ethiopia's biggest stars. Her songs became national anthems and were played across the country. She performed political songs disguised as pop songs, allowing her to bypass the heavy censorship of the Derg regime. Little to nothing of her story is known to a wider audience abroad.

Kajsa Heidl is a Stockholm-based music and culture journalist and former professional music selector for a decade of her life. Kajsa has also worked as a film director. Her film school’s graduation project was a pilot titled “I spåren av din röst / In the tracks of your voice” for which she undertook extensive research and travelled to Addis Abeba to find out Yeshimebet Dubale’s life story. 

Image credit: Film still from Kajsa Heidl's "I spåren av din röst".