When we became friends, I had never felt so seen by another Habesha person that I wasn't related to. Our experiences from culture to how we grew up, to the music we loved, to what we wanted to see for the world. We found out years later that our families even had history, and that we went to the same church as kids. Our connection transformed both of us, and it transformed the world around us too. Rahwa is a part of the Lovework album. I mean in every track, it wouldn't of been the same album without her. That album took me around the world and is foundational for my career and so much of what I've done in my adult life. (There's even a UW class named after it right now.) One day we wanted to get some Ethiopian food, and wanted Rahwa to join us. If you knew her, you knew how stubborn she could be for no reason at all. She insisted that we go to an Eritrean place instead. We said "name a place" and she said there was one on 20th & Jackson. That was the first time any of us walked into Hidmo... the previous owner looked at Rahwa's face and named both of her parents, and he looked at my face and named both of mine. He said he was thinking of selling the place if we knew anyone who wanted to buy the business. Later that night, Rahwa, Asmeret and me stayed up all night envisioning what we could do with that place. It could be a hub for organizers, an all ages venue for up & coming hip-hop artists, and so much more. Less than a month later Rahwa & Asmeret bought the place, and for the first night I was the worst bartender you'd ever want to meet. (I don't drink alcohol and never have.) Hidmo became the first place that every community I came from lived under one roof. It was a community center, cleverly disguised as an Eritrean restaurant in the CD. We changed the city. All of us. Together. And Rahwa never stopped having a positive impact on my life. Every album I've recorded since, Rahwa got one of the first listens. No matter how much time passed, we still caught up like no time passed at all. And Rahwa never stopped having a positive impact on my life. She had a hand in me staying in Seattle in 2016 after I bought a one-way ticket out. That decision brought me to the love of my life and to my current work at KEXP. It doesn't feel real. I'm just heartbroken right now. Love to all of us.

We recorded this back in 2011 for the Children of The Dragon album, it's one of 20 something songs we made that summer, only half of which got released. We had closed Hidmo 6 months before I wrote these lyrics, and the building was just empty at the time. Jimi Hendrix's childhood home and been moved from it's original location and was sitting in an empty lot, right next to an empty Hidmo building. A neighborhood and a legacy in flux. I was thinking a lot about how it's the people and not the buildings that make our communities that we hold sacred. Rahwa heard this song. She heard everything.

Rahwa, forever.