Gabriel Teodros is the everyday journeyman with more stories to tell than most people twice his age. Having seen both city and countryside through the eyes of a broke-ass rapper and immigrant child, Teodros spins observations and wordplay into internationalism on wax. Linking first and third world people's struggles, he is sincere when he says "we in this together son, your beef is mine."

From ciphers at Westlake to spending months in Vancouver and Brooklyn, Gabriel's story is one of trial, tribulation and a search for redemption. The contrast of his onstage ferocity with his offstage humility reveals a multifaceted spirit who understands that the political is personal. Whether addressing political repression and resistance in East Africa or reflecting on the effects of patriarchy in his relationships, Teodros captures each moment soulfully with his unmistakably (north)west coast delivery.

Teodros has left a mark in the underground NW hiphop scene as one half of the duo Abyssinian Creole (with emcee Khingz Makoma), and since the late 90's has been seen rocking microphones from classrooms to theatres, clubs, protests, prisons to street corners alongside the likes of Zap Mama, Fishbone, KRS-One, The Coup, Souls Of Mischief, Digable Planets, Aceyalone & Abstract Rude, GZA/Genius and Immortal Technique to name a few. Even before dropping his upcoming solo masterpiece, Lovework, in early 2007 on Mass Line, Teodros has already got love from a community who eagerly anticipate his next story to tell.

[back]