Elias Melka Geresu (;() 10 December 1977 – 4 October 2019) was an Ethiopian record producer and songwriter. Elias became popular after successfully composing Teddy Afro's debut album ''Abugida'', which was released in 2001. Elias has composed more than forty

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s and has worked with many and the most influential singers in modern Ethiopian music history. Until his death on 4 October 2019, he had played a crucial role in the Ethiopian music industry.

Biography

Early life

Elias Melka was born in Sebategna,

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, Ethiopia from his father Melka Geresu and his mother Atsede Feleke and raised in Abinet,

. Elias was born to

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

families, and this led him to become a member of church choir. This put instilled in Elias a great passion of music, and he left the church after grasping typical knowledge on composing music. After this, Elias proceeded on his journey and went to join Yared Music School, which is in

, Ethiopia, majoring in

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and the traditional instrument kirar.

Career

Elias was believed to be the first person to introduce the practice of studio music production in Ethiopia. Some of the artists whose albums were composed by Elias are Teddy Afro, Gossaye Tesfaye, Mikaya Behailu, Eyob Mekonnen,

Zeritu Kebede Zeritu Kebede (born 19 February 1984) is an Ethiopian singer, songwriter and actress. A prominent figure in modern Ethiopian music, her songs often incorporate rock and gospel music. Early life Zeritu Kebede was born in Addis Ababa on 19 Febr ...

, Tigist Bekele, Haile Roots, Gete Anley, Berry, and Leul Hailu. Elias was also a leader in taking social responsibility, having produced more than half a dozen singles that deal with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

and traffic accidents and others. These songs made by himself and collaborated with others greatly helped the effort to educate people about these societal dangers. From those, "Ashkerkir Rega Bileh" and "Mela Belu" are the priors. His last works were tended to allegedly

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

incitation artistic works. These are the song entitled "''yenem ayn aytua''l" by

and a

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

titled "nur batamnm". There are also many other songs which played by famous Ethiopian artists, namely: Eyob Mekonnen,

, Haile Root, Leul Hailu, Gete Anley, and Berry. Elias was successful and known to nurture new

musicians A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and improve the singing style of notable ones.

Bands

Zion religious music band was Elias' first band, he left religious band Zion and joined Medina Band and played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

in this band and then joined Zema Lastas, Afro Sound bound and Demera Band.

Award

Elias has won four great awards in Ethiopia, the first of which is WIPO's International Award which was given to Ethiopian musicians, the second one which was an award given to him for composing different Kunama songs, the third one was given by the

Fana Broadcasting Corporate Fana Broadcasting Corporate S.C. (FBC) is a state-owned mass media company operating in Ethiopia. Launched in 1994 it focuses mostly on political, social and economical reports about Ethiopia. It operates radio and television stations within Ethi ...

, local broadcasting media, as a Life Time Award, and the last one was by Addis Music Award, for extra effort he put for

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

music at all. Understanding the unprofitable nature of the music industry in the country of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, Elias has exerted extra efforts to ensure the national system that enables the artist to get its share from their songs and it is known as Awtar Music Application.

Death

Melka, having struggled with

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

complications, died on 4 October 2019. Following this, people showed their condolences through different

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

; among them singer Teddy Afro on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

said "I would like to express my deepest condolences on the death of our beloved composer, Elias Melka. Elias will always be remembered above the grave for his career in music and his works of art. I sincerely hope that the Almighty God may place his soul in heaven and give comfort to all his fans, friends, relatives and colleagues." The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum

Takele Uma Banti Takele Uma Banti (Oromo language, Oromo: ''Takala Umaa Bantii''; born 1981) is an Ethiopian politician who had served as the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (Ethiopia), Minister for Mines Petroleum of Ethiopia from 18 August 2020 to 14 January ...

expressed his condolences on

twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

said "Saddened to learn the passing of renowned

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, Elias Melka. We lost a talented and influential figure in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. My condolences to his family and fans."

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melka, Elias 1977 births 2019 deaths Deaths from diabetes Deaths from kidney failure Ethiopian composers Ethiopian songwriters People from Addis Ababa