If Joni Mitchell were East African and met Nina Simone for tea in San Francisco’s Mission District, she might end up sounding like Meklit Hadero. Meklit has catapulted into the public eye with several features and interviews on NPR, PBS, and National Geographic. Joining her soul-filled phrasing and songwriter’s craft, her music’s influences range wide – from the jazz and soul favorites she grew up on; to the hip-hop and art-rock she loves; to folk traditions from the Americas and her forebears’ East African home. Born in Ethiopia, raised in the U.S., and nurtured by San Francisco’s richly diverse arts scene, the acclaimed singer embodies these worlds with a sound that is hers alone. A TED Global Fellow, she is also the founder of the Arba Minch Collective, a group of Ethiopian artists in Diaspora devoted to nurturing ties to their homeland through collaborating with both traditional and contemporary artists there.
“[Meklit] sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment… [with a] sensuous, gentle sound. She is stunning.” – San Francisco Chronicle