While Eritrea's population is less than 4 million, it is a mix of nine major ethnic groups. This small nation on the horn of East Africa includes Hedareb, Blen, Saho and Afar communities that speak Cushitic languages, two Semitic speaking groups, the Tigrinya Tigre and Rashaida, and two that speak Neo-Saharan languages, the Nara and Kunama.

Faytinga's father hails from Kunama ancestry, while her mother's roots are from both the Blen and Tigrinya. With her background of mixed ethnicities and close ties to the independence movement, it isn't a surprise that she has become one of Eritrea's musical heros. Her first international release is "Numey" on the Paris-based Cobalt label. All of the songs on this album are in Kunama, a language that dates back at least 8000 years. At first listen, some apparent ties to West African music come through. An Eritrean bass-lute called the krar is remarkably similar to the ngoni. Another similarity to its neighbors on the other side of the continent, many of of Faytinga's songs are "advice" songs, such as "Numey" ("Don't interrupt the teller"). However, Faytinga's delicate vocals are decidedly East African, as are the lyrics of songs like "Milomala", a song from Eritrea's struggle for independence in the 1980s. With luck, Faytinga may inspire some of the record labels that have overlooked East African music, and one day soon, we'll even see a section at the Virgin Megastore marked "Eritrea."