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Nati Ker: the Ethiopian singer behind “Neger Neger,” from “Niku” to “Yazelkesh Endew”

October 26, 2026
Nati Ker in a white tunic, with a coil of rope over one shoulder, singing in a forest clearing while people in white and ochre robes sit behind him: still from the official Tab Tab video

Name and spellings

Nati Ker is the name under which this Ethiopian singer releases music. His official YouTube channel, @Nati_Ker, writes it in Amharic as ናቲ ኬር, and some of his own uploads spell it “Nati ker.” His official channels do not give a full legal name, a birth date or a hometown, and ethio.music has not found an interview or press profile that does, so this page gives none of them.

Introduction

Nati Ker is a singer and, on his recent videos, the credited writer of his own lyrics and melodies. His official channel had about 161,000 subscribers on 26 October 2026. It describes its content as “cultural rhythms” and “modern soundscapes,” and it labels several of his videos as Guragigna (ጉራግኛ) music.

His reach is easiest to measure through one song. “Neger Neger” (ነገር ነገር), posted on 22 August 2025, entered Kworb’s YouTube Ethiopia weekly chart at No. 5 and reached No. 1 by October 2025. By Kworb’s count it spent 15 weeks at No. 1 and was still in the weekly Top 20 a year after release. On 26 October 2026 the official video had about 22.0 million views. It is No. 11 on ethio.music’s Top 40 of 2025 and was No. 9 on the ethio.music Amharic Secular board for the week ending 1 October 2026.

Biography: a sourced chronology

Dates are Gregorian. Release dates come from Apple Music’s catalogue and upload dates from his official YouTube channel; the two sometimes differ by days or weeks, and both are given where they do.

  • 2023: first catalogued singles. Apple Music lists “Enshoshela” (19 April 2023, ℗ Nahom Records Inc) and “Denget” (30 November 2023, ℗ Lela Music Group) as his earliest releases there. ethio.music has not found an earlier recording.
  • June 2024: “Niku” (ንቁ). The official video was posted on 7 June 2024. A second upload, posted on 12 October 2024, is titled “Guragigna Music Video,” and Apple Music lists “Niku” as a one-track EP dated 14 October 2024, the same day as the single “Welkite Kenema.”
  • September 2024: “Same” (ሳሜ). The official video went up on 21 September 2024, a month before the Apple Music single (21 October 2024). A new version, credited “Nati Ker x Adey Studio” and presented by Adey Music, followed on his channel on 20 September 2025.
  • 22 August 2025: “Neger Neger.” The official video and the single came out the same week. On Kworb’s YouTube Ethiopia weekly chart it entered at No. 5 (week ending 28 August 2025), rose to No. 3 a week later and was No. 1 in the week ending 9 October 2025. Kworb counted 13 weeks at No. 1 by mid-December 2025 and 15 by February 2026. It was still No. 17 in the week ending 24 September 2026, its 56th week on that chart.
  • 14–15 May 2026: “Tab Tab” (ታብ ታብ). Apple Music dates the single 14 May; the official video, posted the next day, is labelled Guragigna. Its thumbnail credits lyrics and melody to Nati Ker, the music to Binande and the direction to Nati Ker. Apple Music also lists the singles “DINGIT” and “ALO” and a second “Enshoshela” listing, all dated June 2026, but their catalogue data are inconsistent (one track carries a 2018 date), so ethio.music does not date those songs.
  • 25 September 2026: “Yazelkesh Endew” (ያዘልቅሽ እንደው). The official video premiered on his channel, with the single on Apple Music the next day. The description speaks of “Guragegna rhythms” and credits lyrics and melody to Nati Ker, arrangement to Simagegnehu Samuel (Dita Studio), direction to Jonna and production to Brothers Studio. ethio.music reported the release in its news wire on 28 September.

Language note: his channel labels “Niku” and “Tab Tab” as Guragigna, while ethio.music’s release record lists “Neger Neger” as Amharic. A fluent reviewer has not yet checked the language of each song, so this profile does not assign one to the others.

Start listening

These five picks are ethio.music’s editorial suggestions, separate from the sourced chronology above. All come from Nati Ker’s official YouTube channel. Each video is embedded, with a plain link underneath.

1. “Niku” (2024). The earliest official video now on his channel, and one of the songs the channel names in its own introduction. A good first stop for his earlier sound.

Watch “Niku” (official video) on Nati Ker’s YouTube channel

2. “Same” (2024). The original official video, which passed one million views on YouTube. Compare it with the 2025 Adey Studio version on the same channel.

Watch “Same” (official video) on Nati Ker’s YouTube channel

3. “Neger Neger” (2025). The song that took him to No. 1 on Kworb’s YouTube Ethiopia weekly chart and to No. 11 on ethio.music’s Top 40 of 2025.

Watch “Neger Neger” (official video) on Nati Ker’s YouTube channel

4. “Tab Tab” (2026). A Guragigna-labelled video that he also directed, according to its thumbnail credits. It had about 1.76 million views on 26 October 2026.

Watch “Tab Tab” (official video) on Nati Ker’s YouTube channel

5. “Yazelkesh Endew” (2026). His newest official video, with the fullest credits he has published so far, including arranger Simagegnehu Samuel.

Watch “Yazelkesh Endew” (official video) on Nati Ker’s YouTube channel

Selected work and related links

Releases, with dates as sourced above:

  • “Enshoshela” (2023)
  • “Denget” (2023)
  • “Niku” (2024)
  • “Welkite Kenema” (2024)
  • “Same” (2024; Adey Studio version 2025)
  • “Neger Neger” (2025)
  • “Tab Tab” (2026)
  • “Yazelkesh Endew” (2026)

Related links:

Sources

Last fact-checked: 2026-10-26.

Binyam Dereje

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