This New 2011 YouTube Exclusive DJ Mix of music of Ethiopia by JaBig showcases Ethiopian Synth-Pop songs that are popular in bars, clubs, social gathering and iPods in Addis & diaspora worldwide.

Some of the artists featured on the “mix tape” are Gigi, Teddy Afro (Tewodros Kassahun), Gossaye Tesfaye, Theodros Tadesse, Aster Aweke, Abeba Lakew, Roha Band, Gedion Daniel, Shewanday Hailu, Manalemosh Dibo, Hebist Tiruneh, Henock Abebe, Girma Gemechu, Hamelmal Abate, Monica Sisay, Tsehaye Yohannes, Betelhem Dagnachew, Abinet Agonafer, Newaya Debebe, Netsanet Mellesse, Abyssinia Band, Lafonte (Brihanu Tezera & Tadele Roba), Zeritu, Abdu Kiar, Mikael Belayneh, Dawit Malese, Tlahun G, Shewanday Hailu and more…

In JaBig’s own words…

In August 2011 as I was organising my music to decide on what to bring along on my 8-year DJ world tour by car, I stumbled across a large collection of Ethiopian music given to me by a friend four years earlier that I had never really had taken the time to listen to because with over 50 000 songs that I own, it takes forever to go through it.

One night I could not sleep because for a reason that I forgot so I decided to give the music a listen. I stepped onto the SL 1200s turntables and booted up my DJ set recording software and got spinning.

Enjoy this mix of popular Ethiopian Music songs which is a big hit with many lovers of Music from Ethiopia on YouTube!

You may read about JaBig’s June 2011 trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by clicking on the flag below to head over to his world tour travel blog.

As JaBig sets for his DJ world tour by car to fight child hunger, he takes a moment to salute all the Montréal DJs met in his 8 wonderful years in Canada’s coolest city.

On Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 while on my East African pre-Big Journey tour, I visited the United Nations World Food Programme‘s School Meals project in Mathare, a slum or shanty town in Nairobi (Kenya) with a population of approximately 500,000 people.

(Photograph by indymedia.ie)

Rose Ogola, public information officer at WFP Kenya took me to Mathare Outreach, a school that provides free education to hundreds of children who reside in the slum.

A little background of Mathare is in order, to better understand the importance of the crucial role played by Mathare Outreach and the United Nations World Food Programme:

The population of Nairobi, the capital city city of Kenya is estimated at 4million people of which approximately 55% live in the informal settlement (slums).

People in Mathare live in abject poverty with no functional utilities; no clean water , no sewage system and limited access to electricity. They live in shacks made of mud, bits and cardboard and rusty corrugated iron.

Over 90% of the household are headed by single women, many of whom have been in abusive relationships. While mathare valley is often associated with a community rife with violent crime, prostitution, illegal alcohol and drugs, it is also a community of people struggling to improve their lives, educate their children, and live with dignity.

Source: Mathare Outreach 

You can imagine that Mathare Outreach is a beacon of hope for the hundreds of children who attend the school as education is what will allow them to break out of the poverty cycle thanks partly to WFP’s meals.

(I am not the greatest cook but I can stir. It felt as if I was a captain and was rowing a large ship!)

The United Nations World Food Programme provides one hot, balanced and yummy meal every school day to every child at the school. This directly impacts the community in a big way:

1) Hungry children are fed (sometimes this is the only meal of the day that they will have since their parents may not have the means to feed them. I even heard of a story of some children hiding their school meal to take home to share with non-schooled siblings).

2) Children get an education that will allow them to have a future out of the slums.

3) Girls are sent to school instead of staying at home working which gives them an equal chance with boys.

I was very curious to taste the lunch which is a “meal of bulgar wheat, peas, vegetable oil fortified with vitamins and cooked in iodised salt” (source).

I can attest that the meal is yummy and filling! I only had half a cup at lunchtime with the kids but until dinner time, my stomach was still full.

I always fear that the food given to people in distress or in extreme poverty may be not so appetizing but I really enjoyed it and even was caught scooping in one little girl’s plate as the food was so yummy!

(I pulled the sneaky stunt — that I have perfected all these years on my lovely sisters — of asking if her food was as good as mine while helping myself — Note the amusement on the security detail’s faces in the background.

Yes, those are machine guns. I know nothing about firearms so cannot tell you which models they’re packing but I would not want to know in the first place!)

I was able to meet some children and speak with them and even did the obligatory “ask children a — what did you learn today? — question” but I chose the wrong topic: Mathematics, a subject I am useless at. I asked a child to solve a division and when he did, I could not tell if he was right or wrong because I don’t remember how to that manually.

Luckily, my iPhone’s calculator came to the rescue!

While having lunch, I also spoke to two individuals whose stories were very important to me.

Millicent Awuor Odhiambo and Michael Kyalo are two Mathare Outreach graduates who eventually came back to the school as teachers. I asked them (separately) how important the school meals were to them and they both said that it had played a great role in their education as they were able to focus and do well at school (think about it: have you ever tried to do anything on an empty stomach?).

Here’s a short video of Millicent explaining the School Meals in her life shot while I was visiting Mathare Outreach:

Then I asked them why they came back to the school given the fact that with the education they’d had they could have gone on to work for big corporations and make tons of money. Again the answer was unanimous: they wanted to give back to the school that helped them break out of the poverty cycle but they also wanted to help their community.

I also asked them if they were on Facebook, a question I cheekily ask everyone I meet on my travels. Judging by their reactions they did not expect that one (they get many international visitors and I noticed that some of their answers were nicely rehearsed to please these donors which is why in situations like these, I like to throw some curveballs to get the real answers ) as I told them that I genuinely wanted to keep in touch.

While at Mathare Outreach, I also got to answer questions and pose for photographs as Billy Muiruri, a journalist and Anthony Njoroge, a photojournalist for Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper were preparing a feature about me set to appear in the Saturday edition, one of the widely circulated edition.

(Full article: A taste of a DJ’s epic journey to feed world)

At the end of the trip, I took home my red cup that I had my lunch in as visual souvenir of my fascinating tour but also as a visual symbol that I will use on my 7 year journey around the world as I ask the world to fill the cup to fight child hunger worldwide. You may read about my personal adventures in Ethiopia and Kenya.

(My friend and I were chatting about the usual stuff guys chat about while enjoying our delicious lunch when the camera lady surprised us and took a photo of us when we least expected it hence the “caught-0ff-guard/mouth-full-of-food” stare)

A great thank you to:

- Julie Marshall from WFP Canada who organised the tour a week prior (I am the king of last minute requests!). I needed to see things with my very own eyes to better tell the world the importance of your agency’s wonderful work worldwide as I circumnavigate the globe for 7 years.

- Rose Ogola from WFP Kenya to take me on the tour and share the photographs of the afternoon with me (all images except for the first one are copyright Rose Ogola/WFP Kenya). Since I am the world’s most unprofessional person, I made her “blush” when I asked her rather personal questions. Sorry about that but hey, that’s what you get with us Monteralers

- The staff at Mathare Outreach for patiently answering my billions of questions and politely smiling and laughing at my jokes

- The children at Mathare Outreach for the warm welcome, the lovely songs and for allowing me to hang out with you all. When I drive by you will be all grown up so hope you remember me! Keep that inner joy and those happy faces. I tell you the honest truth: kids in North America are not as full of life as you are…

- The Nation team for the great feature in your newspaper. I appreciate the kind words. But! Did we have to advertise to the world that I am a skinny, err… slender, person?

- The security detail for watching over us. You guys never added me on Facebook! What’s up with that?

- Last and foremost to YOU dear reader, friend or supporter who will be so kind as to donate as little as 25 cents to support the World Food Programme and I in our joint fight against child hunger worldwide. Please, help fill the cup! Oh by the way, please feel free to share the link on your Facebook wall! Thanks

(Photo courtesy: Uyen)

From March 27th until April 27th, I challenged myself to raise $25 000 to fight child hunger in Montreal by DJ at various venues in Montreal for a period of 30 days with the funds being donated to Le Garde-Manger Pour Tous, an agency that runs an amazing school feeding program.

How did it go?

- Due to the tragic earthquakes and tsunami in Japan and the fact that the DJ marathon required more advance publicity before launching, I was not able to reach my $ 25 000 target.

- But the fundraiser will be able to provide a hot and balanced meal to over 400 children in Montreal who would otherwise go hungry. I certainly aimed to feed more but it will be for the next project.

- The prime mission of the $25 000 DJ marathon fundraiser was to bring to the attention of Montreal residents that in our own city and not very far from us, there are kids who do not eat to their satisfaction.

The marathon raised awareness to this shocking fact with many people joining the fight in many ways especially on Facebook and Twitter where friends and supporters spread the word to all their friends and other contacts.

- As usual, I got to learn that on this Earth, we people are kinder and more generous than we give ourselves credit for. Friends, colleagues and total strangers reached out and offered their help. As a matter of fact, if I had to thank each individual that made the marathon a smash, the list would easily top a thousand!

- I have finally accepted that project management especially multi-tasking is not my forte. As a matter of fact, it’s a skill I don’t even possess which has led me to wonder how in the heck I have survived 31 years on this planet. I should have stuck to DJing and establishing contacts on this project.

Booking dates, following up and even collecting the funds raised totally dominated me! But lesson learned and the right people have been contacted to help me out with other upcoming fundraisers.

- Please keep on supporting Le Garde-Manger Pour Tous if you’re based in Montreal. For a small team, they really do big things: 3000 hot & balanced meals a day! Visit their official website to see how you may offer a helping hand and a donation please, please, please.

- A special shout out to Valérie Morquette, the communications director at Le Garde-Manger Pour Tous who was my sole contact person with the agency. I drove her NUTS and she always kept her huge smile. If I were in her shoes, I would have punched me in the face on many occasions but she did not. Which reminds me… I should take her out for dessert to try and salvage the initial impression she had of me!

- Finally…

The DJ marathon, a battle in many, may be over but my war against child hunger in Montreal and worldwide is still raging and every day, I focus on my Big Journey more and more thanks to the positive results I encounter and thanks to the kindness of people who also find it unacceptable that children should go to bed hungry at night.

Thank you for your continued support and keep visiting this website for updates on my upcoming world tour and my objective.

It’s that time of the year again where I round up my friends, fans and fellow DJs for a moment of fun, also a perfect opportunity to give back to the less fortunate.

This year, the event in question is a brunchraiser, a brunch that will be served at Bob’s Café, a cute café in the Old Montreal with partial proceeds being donated to the United Nations World Food Programme to fund their School Meals program, an initiative to feed hungry school children in developing nations.

My dear friends and fellow DJs ZO, Mario Galego and Fuki Flex (from Paris, France) will be joining me on the turntables to provide you with soulful brunchy beats.

Where: Bob’s Café

Adress: 644 Notre Dame West (Corner McGill) – Metro Square Victoria
Time: 12:00 (noon) – 17:00
Map: http://goo.gl/FxbqB

If you are unable to attend but would like to help the fight of ending child hunger why not make a donation online (tax deductible in certain countries)?

You can make a difference today. Did you know that for just US/Can 25 cents, you’ll be able to provide a hungry child with a cup filled with a nutritious meal? Think what could happen if you donated at least $5! Thanks!

Make a difference, donate today please!

- For more about School Meals, the WFP’s school feeding program: http://www.wfp.org/school-meals

Thanks in advance to Bob’s Café owners Sabrina Kale and Andrée-Anne Bergeron for their support in this initiative that’s very close to my heart. Love you girls xxx

Below: some photographs of a recent brunch at Bob’s Café (courtesy Julia D):

Exactly six months ago, I made the biggest announcement of my life ever by revealing that I was about to embark on a round-the-world tour by… car! It goes without saying that this is a huge project especially given the fact that no other DJ in history, or artist/entertainer for that matter, has ever undertaken such an adventure.

What have I been up to in the last six months?

Well, it turns out that planning an adventure around the world that is half a trip and half a DJ tour is as complex as staging a project as big as a huge festival!

Let’s use the most popular festival in Canada as an example. Over 2 million people attend the Montreal International Jazz Fest yearly and attendance to some shows is over 100,000 and sometimes over 200,000 according to official figures.

While I don’t think that any of my shows will attract as many people overall my Big Journey (the project name of my world tour), I believe that it will have the same reach if not ten times more overall.

Wishful thinking on my part?

Not if you consider this:

- Four to five years performing in nightclubs, at festivals and at other various music events in hundreds of countries on six continents, will certainly put the total live audience to over 150 000.

- The Big Journey will also include a round-the-world radio tour where I will be guest DJing live on the air. Personally, I don’t listen to the radio but it turns out that millions around the world still do which make sense given the fact that when stuck in a traffic jam there are no other methods of entertainment.

- Blogs: my personal Big Journey blog/official website (JaBig.com) does not get a significant amount of traffic, yet. However, I will be a contributing editor and columnist for a number of blogs that make the Technorati Top 100 Blogs list. To put numbers into perspective, they each attract over 2 million monthly unique visitors.

- I cannot predict the reach of television and newspaper publicity efforts because it’s like trying to predict the lotto. I can score small or score big but will hopefully score big

Before I get carried away with numbers (I am semi-obsessed with “the reach” because the more people are aware of the Big Journey, the better I can champion my cause), let me get back to the original point of explaining why this is a complex project that requires meticulous planning as so many variables will be at play once I hit the road and one off little element can have semi-disastrous consequences.

When I made the big announcement six months ago, I just wanted to get in a car and drive around the world without too much fanfare. As time went by, the project grew more than I had anticipated. From there, my team and I decided to go all out and make it as big as possible if we really want to impact the world.

Thus, we’ve been planning and slaving over details to make sure that the Big Journey and its related projects such as Beats for Life, DEX 101, the radio tour, the speaking engagements and more (without forgetting sightseeing and having fun of course!)  are a success in all the countries and cities around the world that they will tour.

This is getting too long so I will stop here

In a future post, I will be detailing exactly what I will be doing when I am travelling and touring. In the meantime, I’d like to thank you for your support and kind words and I look forward to seeing you in your country, city or community

How do JaBig and Gotsoul Records welcome the summer season and the 2010 Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix back to Montreal after a year hiatus? With a big, beautiful brash bash of course!

The Love Sundays afternoon party coincided with a crazy weekend in the unofficially official Canadian culture capital city in which the famed Montreal festival kicked-off with the Francofolies Festival and the Fireworks Festivals in full effect without forgetting the 2010 South Africa World Cup of course.

How many more excuses to party did fun-loving Montrealers need, if they ever needed one in the first place?

Sunday afternoon + great weather + a slick terrace + dope music + up-for-it party people + JaBig & gotsoul DJs and guests = Love Sundays, the supreme sexy summer starter. Not even Jamie Oliver himself would have come with such a perfect recipe.

Click on the pic below for the complete photo album set courtesy of Steve Bishop, the Love Sundays curator.

A few “FYI” facts on this International Women’s Day:

- Who produces 60 to 80 percent of food in developing nations?
Women.

- When food is scarce, who is the last to eat?
Women.

- Who ensures that children have food to eat, even before themselves?
Women.

Women have the power to break the cycle of hunger and poverty, and you and I can help reach this goal. (Source: WFP)

I have sent a message of solidarity to women across the globe who fight everyday to make hunger history in their own households and around the world.

(If you cannot view the video above, click here: International Women’s Day 2010 – Women: the Front line Against Hunger)