BY FITSUM GETACHEW
When the whole nation was celebrating the Meskel Holiday, one of the world’s intangible cultural heritages and people were in a total holiday mood, a tragic and unexpected news began to fill the air waves. First it was the usual social media who took the front line but there were the usual suspicions that it may not be true and that someone with ill inventions might have fabricated it to create some cheap attention among the media audience.
But later on as the news got repeated even in more respectable and reliable sources, it began to acquire more and more probability and credibility. When finally the official news media of the country broke the news, it was indeed hauntingly true! The much beloved and popular vocalist Madingo Afework has passed away suddenly in a clinic that is not far away from his residence around Summit.
Condolences began to pour from the highest officials of the country including the prime minister and the president who all expressed their sadness and paid tribute to what the artist has done throughout his relatively brief life.
The circumstances of his death were initially not at all clear as the reports say that the artist did drive his car up to the clinic where he sought medical aid as he was not feeling well. But he was pronounced dead after some time while he was under treatment. The reports say that when the patient was administered an injection he said he felt suffocated and could not continue breathing and that was the end of Madingo.
But there are also other reports from circles that are close to artist, that Madingo did have a concert on the Demera night and that he was fine, and as usual entertained the audience with his marvelous vocal capacity and talent, but that he had made some complaints of a slight heart ailment, not a good feeling. Some say there has never been heard or reported a history of heart ailment of the artist but that he had even gone in search of advanced treatment to Thailand because he had a chronic ailment of his stomach to treat. This was not news that came to the wide audience and there was no news updates also about the then state of his health. What people know is that he was actively taking part in shows and concerts even if he may have felt every now and then stomach ache and the pain that derives from that.
Madingo Afework is one of the top most vocalists the country has and practically all of his songs are adored by music lovers because his performance is exceptional. Up to now he has released only three albums and in about thirty years of activity one may say they are pretty few, but they are all top quality albums. Besides he has also contributed to the audience several single songs that have been loved by not only specifically his admirers and fans but also by the wide Ethiopian audience of Ethiopian beats and sounds.
The biggest quality of Madingo that people say is his exceptional voice. Few artists can match the voice and vocal qualities of Madingo. Then the love for the profession is enormous as he began with his career at the age of nine! He was born in Azezo, near Gondar City but was taken to Debre Tabor where he began his artistic career and did a lot of music in Bahir Dar before moving to Addis Ababa. In Addis he came to the attention of every one and began to work in night clubs with the launching of his first album he released alone called ‘Siyame Atahulat’ or ‘who shall I call her’ an admiration to the girl’s beauty.
Building up on the popularity of this album, Madingo then published another album called ‘Ayederegim’ roughly ‘It can’t happen’ and by then he had already become a great celebrity. People identified him wherever he went. His face had appeared in all Ethiopian media and his face on his new albums has decorated the city’s walls when there were promotional pictures with the new releases. When once he was asked how he felt about the amount of money he managed to secure from the sale of albums and how rich he was becoming, his answer was that money was not the focus of his attention but love from the audience. When he heard his songs play everywhere he went, he felt all the joy of the world that cannot be exchanged for money. Making people happy or contributing to their delight, he said was his greatest achievement and success.
Madingo then was eagerly awaited for new releases given the quality of albums he gave to the public. Talking about how difficult it is to produce an album he once said, it takes not only a lot of time but also the contribution of so many other artists in the field and so much money and so much fatigue, that was why the interval of his production of albums was quite long, especially compared to certain artists who would produce an album every two or three years.
Madingo then released the most successful of his albums some years ago and acquired great success and admiration from the audience. By then it was undoubted that Madingo had got deep into the annals of Ethiopian modern music along with the classic and well renowned artists in the hearts of every Ethiopian. Madingo was well admired for his patriotic feeling and he showed it in his performance preaching Ethiopian unity and splendor. The single song he released during the Ethiopian millennium fifteen years ago called ‘Anbessaw Agessa’ meaning the “Lion is roaring” has become a classic song that excites every Ethiopian and the video clip went viral throughout where Ethiopians live. It pays tribute to being Ethiopian with all the qualities of bravery, patriotism and defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. As the origins of his artistic history are traced to the military establishment where he was selected to be a part of their artistic group, he has been a bit indoctrinated on what nationalism means and what the defense of one’s nation means. It is there where he developed this huge sense of being a true Ethiopian irrespective of language, ethnic or religious differences and could be a good example of what being an Ethiopian should imply.
Madingo is also someone who has never refused to use his artistic talent to help raise funds for certain disadvantaged communities and when he is called to take part in certain similar events he is the first one to consent and participate actively. More significantly he has been to the war front at every occasion when there was need to entertain and raise the morale of the armed forced in the various military engagements against enemy forces. He is well received by the national defense forces as one of them and with the military uniform he looks like one of them.
The patriotic songs he plays on those occasions are really electric and fills the military with exceptional spirit. That was among the most notable contributions he made to his country and that he has deserved the praise and acknowledgment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahlework Zewde. Both have expressed their deep condolences at the sudden death of the artist at only forty four. There was of course a feeling that he had still a long way to go and a lot more to do.
His fans were devastated by this tragic news on a holiday but the entire nation has been immersed in this sad day. Death is not something new and no wonder people die at a certain age. For instance we lost another huge artist just a year and a month ago in Alemayehu Eshete, one of the trademarks of modern Ethiopian music. But we knew that Alex had several medical issues including a heart case and with the contribution of his eighty years, there was great sorrow for his loss but not suddenness. May be with starling similarity with the case of Madingo, people were remembering the sudden death of another beloved vocalist Tamrat Desta in his late thirties who passed away some years ago. The circumstances of his death were never made clearly to the public and some have speculated that there might have been medical error. But there were no concrete evidence released to the public. Of course many people die suddenly of various crises, mostly heart attack and explosive blood pressure. And there may be thousands of such cases anywhere but evidently, as they are not celebrities, they do not come to the attention of the wide public.
One other huge quality of Madingo that few people may have known is his charity work. When he passed away, so many people came forward to testify to his kindness and generosity and that he had kids he permanently helped and there were people who were feeling very sorry for these people now that he is gone. In this respect he was a real hero to be emulated.
Finally, we have come to know that his fourth full album was ready for release and that he was actively following up on this latest work to be published soon. Unfortunately destiny did not allow him to live the glory of his latest album to which his fans and admirers look forward to enjoying in his memory. The public knew that Madingo was working on this album but they did not know that it was ready for publication and would be released as soon as promotional activities are completed.
In one of the songs released in anticipation of the album, Madingo sings about death and how helpless we are in front of this natural phenomenon. Some were heard saying that it appeared that he anticipated his destiny. I have known Madingo in several occasions including at the wedding of my brother where he was the lead singer and in his private night club where I went a few times with friends. We met also his sister and brother, both artists. I have personally witnessed how respectful he is to people, how he greeted me and others with modesty, without any air of being the famous icon, a quality all celebrities be the vocalists or instrumentalists or members of any other artistic fields should treasure. Madingo was an artist to be emulated and let his soul rest in peace!
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2022
