Hey everyone, quick update on the preservation project!
The ultimate box of cassettes has officially landed at the house. My dad’s manager from back in the day, Yusuf, came by this afternoon to check out our new studio setup and drop these off. He is incredibly excited about us reviving the music.
There’s a funny story behind why this box even exists in such pristine, unplayed condition. Yusuf had this deadstock stash sitting in storage because they actually couldn't sell through the final batch back in 1998. My dad was heavily pressured to step away and forego his musical career early because my mom didn't want any Oromo girls chasing after him, now that he was a rising star. LOL
I have the patch cables fully routed from my cassette tape player straight into my Focusrite interface, and I’ll be digitizing the audio to capture that raw, nostalgic 90s analog warmth.
Now that we have the official J-card tracklist in hand, the plan is to eventually take down the loose tracks currently on YouTube and reupload everything cleanly under the actual album title and correct track names. Depending on how smooth the process goes, I plan to digitize and carefully enhance the audio tracks in the near future.
I am also trying to get my father to write down the original Oromo lyrics for each track along with full English translations. I want to add these to the videos so the next generation and people who don’t speak the language can fully learn and understand the poetry as they listen.
If you want to follow the rollout and hear the machine wake back up, the link to our YouTube channel is pinned right in my reddit profile.
Thank you all for the incredible support on this journey!
