{"id":15721,"date":"2026-11-03T13:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tewnet.com\/index\/?p=15721"},"modified":"2026-11-03T13:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:44:35","slug":"madingo-afework-ashara-album-nine-new-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tewnet.com\/index\/15721","title":{"rendered":"Madingo Afework’s Last Album, Ashara (\u12a0\u123b\u122b), Is Out With Nine New Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Ashara (\u12a0\u123b\u122b), the album of new songs that Madingo Afework (\u121b\u12f2\u1295\u130e \u12a0\u1348\u12c8\u122d\u1245) recorded before his death in 2022, is now out. His official YouTube channel posted all nine songs as lyric videos on Friday, October 30, and Apple Music<\/a> lists the album with an October 31 release date.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The opening song, Astemriw Liben (\u12a0\u1235\u1270\u121d\u122a\u12cd \u120d\u1264\u1295), had more than 1.1 million views on YouTube by Tuesday morning. Amalay (\u12a0\u121b\u120b\u12ed) was second, with about 786,000 views.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nine Songs, Not Twelve<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In September, The Reporter, the Addis Ababa newspaper, said the album would hold 11 to 12 songs<\/a> that the public had never heard. The album that came out has nine. The video descriptions do not say whether more songs will follow.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Ashara is an Amharic word for a mark or a fingerprint. The cover carries the words “A Legacy. A Voice. Forever.” It also calls the album Vol. 4 and shows the years 2019 and 2026, the current year in the Ethiopian and the Gregorian calendars. Madingo made three studio albums in his lifetime: Siyame Atahulat, Ayderegim and Swedlat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The nine songs, in the order the channel numbers them, are:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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  1. Astemriw Liben (\u12a0\u1235\u1270\u121d\u122a\u12cd \u120d\u1264\u1295)<\/li>\r\n
  2. Yehilina Dagnetshn (\u12e8\u1205\u120a\u1293 \u12f3\u129d\u1290\u1275\u123d\u1295)<\/li>\r\n
  3. Beyilugnta (\u1260\u12ed\u1209\u129d\u1273)<\/li>\r\n
  4. Dire (\u12f5\u122c)<\/li>\r\n
  5. Yeselamtaye (\u12e8\u1230\u120b\u121d\u1273\u12ec)<\/li>\r\n
  6. Altenkuakuam Bere (\u12a0\u120d\u1270\u1295\u12b3\u12b3\u121d \u1260\u122c)<\/li>\r\n
  7. Amalay (\u12a0\u121b\u120b\u12ed)<\/li>\r\n
  8. Sinedegn Sinedegn (\u1232\u1290\u12f0\u129d \u1232\u1290\u12f0\u129d)<\/li>\r\n
  9. Enat (\u12a5\u1293\u1275)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    \"Cover
    The cover of Ashara, the album of Madingo Afework’s last recordings, released in October 2026; the cover does not say when or where the portrait was taken (Madingo Afework \/ Geez Creative)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Who Wrote and Played the Songs<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    The Amharic credits under each video name the people behind the music. Fanta Wechefo (\u1348\u1295\u1273 \u12c8\u1328\u134e) wrote the words and the melody for five songs, including the opening track and Enat. He also wrote the melody of Amalay, which has words by Yilma Gebreab (\u12ed\u120d\u121b \u1308\/\u12a0\u1265).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Abebe Birhane (\u12a0\u1260\u1260 \u1265\u122d\u1200\u1294) wrote Altenkuakuam Bere. Mekonnen Lema (\u1218\u12ae\u1295\u1295 \u1208\u121b), who is known as Doctere, wrote, arranged and mixed Sinedegn Sinedegn. The melody of Beyilugnta is credited to Abudi (\u12a0\u1261\u12f2).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Michael Hailu arranged, recorded and mixed five of the songs. Addis Fikadu (\u12a0\u12f2\u1235 \u134d\u1243\u12f1) did the same work on Beyilugnta, Altenkuakuam Bere and Enat. Zerihun Belete (\u12d8\u122a\u1201\u1295 \u1260\u1208\u1320) plays saxophone on two songs, and Kibret Zekiyos (\u12ad\u1265\u1228\u1275 \u12d8\u12aa\u12ce\u1235) mastered all nine. On Beyilugnta, the credits also name Luwam Mehari (\u1209\u12cb\u121d \u1218\u1200\u122a) on bass guitar and Sebhat Endale (\u1235\u1265\u1200\u1275 \u12a5\u1295\u12f3\u1208) on lead guitar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    The album cover gives a longer list of writers. It names Madingo himself and Solomon Kinde, known as Solomonick, but it does not say which songs they wrote.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Four Years of Work<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Madingo died in Addis Ababa on September 27, 2022, at the age of 44. His longtime manager, Zelalem Mekuria, is named on the cover as the project manager. Geez Creative handles the digital distribution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    His team completed the unfinished songs from the studio recordings, Zelalem told The Reporter<\/a> in September. “We moved from studio to studio to study the works he had started,” he said, adding that the team also asked music experts for advice before it finished the album.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    The new songs come one week after the channel posted his older albums<\/a>. On October 24 and 25, it put up lyric videos from Swedlat and visualizers from Siyame Atahulat, his first album.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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