On September 11, a new sound arrived for the Ethiopian New Year season. Neossinia Vol. 1 is a seven-track mixtape bringing together 16 emerging artists, producers and songwriters. It is not trying to make one clean sound for everybody. Instead, it lets different voices meet and sometimes disagree, which is part of what makes the project interesting.
The project comes from 2591 Worldwide, working with Bana Records and Forward Music Company. In an interview published by Amplify Africa, executive producer Denkinesh Argaw explains that the artists came together for a three-day studio camp. Some were already working in Afrobeats, R&B and hip-hop, while others were carrying different Ethiopian musical memories into the room. The short time could have made the music feel rushed. On the songs, it sounds more like a useful pressure.
Neossinia is also a picture of the contemporary Ethiopian music scene, which is growing in many directions at once. Artists are moving between languages, local rhythms, electronic production and sounds learned from the wider African pop world. There is no need to choose between tradition and a modern beat. A good new song can hold both, even when the balance is not perfect.
What stands out about Vol. 1 is the idea of exchange. This is not a producer hiding behind a single star. The camp brought many people into one process, with photographers and videographers also helping to shape the world around the music. The result feels like a beginning more than a final statement. It leaves room for more voices and a second volume to go further.
Argaw told Amplify Africa that the project should create conversations and real opportunities for the artists. That point is important. Ethiopian music has a deep history, but young musicians still need studios, labels, listeners and fair chances to build a career. A mixtape cannot solve the whole industry, but it can make a meeting place. Neossinia gives the scene one more place to gather.
For listeners outside Ethiopia, the release is also an easy invitation into the current moment. You may hear familiar Afrobeats movement in one passage, R&B softness in another, and hints of regional Ethiopian sound underneath. It is not presented as a museum piece. It is alive, a little rough around the edges, and open to surprise.
Neossinia Vol. 1 can be heard on Spotify, and the projects release material is being shared by the Neossinia team online. For Ethiopian New Year, it is a hopeful way to say that the next sound is already being made. The mixtape does not claim to represent every artist. It simply opens the door and asks who else is ready to enter.
Source: Amplify Africa, “How Neossinia Vol 1 Is Reimagining Contemporary Ethiopian Music,” September 11, 2026.
Photo: 2591 Worldwide, via Amplify Africa.
