The official YouTube channel of Madingo Afework posted his first album, Siyame Atahulat, on Sunday, four years after the singer’s death. Ten songs from the album went up as official visualizers, which are videos that show moving pictures while the song plays.
On Saturday, the day before, the channel posted 14 lyric videos from Swedlat, his 2015 album. Each of those videos shows the words of the song on the screen.
Two Albums in Two Days
The Swedlat songs came first. The channel spells the title “Siwedlat” and keeps the songs together in a playlist. They include “Tangut,” “Wusejat,” “Mar Mar” and “Welo Menen.” By Monday morning, “Lalaterf” and “Tangut” had each passed 2,000 views on YouTube.
On Sunday afternoon, it was the turn of Siyame Atahulat. A 2015 profile on the Music In Africa website said the title song and “Aman Newey Goraw” were instant hits. The other new videos include “Ewedshalehu,” “Sidet,” “Fikirua” and “Yibelawal Hoden.”
The video descriptions name Geez Creative as the distributor and say the music is available on all digital stores. The channel also has a playlist for Ayderegim, his second album, from 2005.
Video: the official visualizer for “Siyame Atahulat,” the title song of Madingo Afework’s first album, posted on his YouTube channel on October 25, 2026.
Still Waiting for the New Songs
The uploads come while fans wait for an album of new songs that Madingo recorded before he died. In September, The Reporter, the Addis Ababa newspaper, said that album would hold 11 to 12 songs the public had never heard. The paper said it was due by the end of Meskerem 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar, which fell on October 10.
By Monday morning, none of those new songs had appeared on the official channel. No date or place had been announced for the launch event that The Reporter said would mark the release.
The new album will not be sold on CDs or in any other physical form, the paper said. It will appear on his official YouTube channel, which his daughter, Dibora Madingo, manages. The Reporter described Dibora as his only heir. Zelalem Mekuria, who has been his manager since Siyame Atahulat, oversaw the production.
A Voice From Gondar
Madingo was born in the Gondar region, the Music In Africa profile said. His early heroes were the singers Ephrem Tamiru, Muluken Melese and Elias Tebabal, and he copied their songs as a child.
He was only ten when music drew him to a nearby army camp, the profile said. He began to sing with the military band there. The soldiers gave him the name Madingo, and it stayed with him. As a teenager he moved to Addis Ababa, joined the Zema Lastas Band and sang well-known songs in night clubs.
He died in Addis Ababa on September 27, 2022, at the age of 44. Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported that thousands of people mourned him at a state farewell ceremony at Friendship Square in the capital. He was buried at Holy Trinity Cathedral.
His three studio albums now sit side by side on the channel. One song, “Serat,” appears in two of the playlists, once with the first album and once with Swedlat.
