Up and coming rapper of the Italian underground rap scene, Avalon Tsegaye, aka Avex, is the fourth guest of VISIONI | RAIY. A life-long obsession, Avalon got into hip-hop and black music as a kid, when he lived in Addis Ababa. Spending his time listening and transcribing lyrics by Tupac, Biggie, Eminem, Mos Def, Rakim etc. he was literally laying the foundations for what is now his mission.

In this new episode of VISIONI | RAIY, Avex delves into his “alternative” childhood in Addis Ababa at the Italian school and into the complexities of writing verses in three different languages, discusses his choice to no use Amharic as much, and his latest EP, Black Lion, whose title echoes with one of the most powerful Ethiopian symbols: the lion.

VISIONI | RAIY is a series of conversations with Italian-Ethiopians artists and creatives. We talk about their life, work and vision—raiy in Amharic—delving into the different aspects of an Italian and Ethiopian identity, between presence and absence withing geographical, cultural and social boundaries.

VISIONI | RAIY is curated and produced by GRIOT in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Addis Abeba. The series is presented on the occasion of the XXI Week of The Italian Language in the World.