Gildo Kassa is an Ethiopian dance music composer, songwriter, and singer. He is known for writing and producing songs for young artists, and is known for his 2019 single "Lageba New",[a] which was included on Al Jazeera's "ultimate year-end African music playlist" in 2019.
Gildo Kassa | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia |
| Occupation | Dance music composer |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Organization | Shakura |
Early life
editGildo was born in Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia. He got the name Gildo because of his first word as a baby, Gil - Gil, and this became Gil-do to mean "one who say gil - gil" in the Wolaytta language.[1] He was raised in a Protestant Christian family which strictly prohibited music. He was inspired by his older brother Kamuzu Kassa to go into music.[citation needed]
Career
editGildo has produced several hit songs, one being "Lageba New" featuring fellow musician Shakura.[2] Per The New Times of Rwanda, Gildo produced more than 300 singles, including more than 59 of his own songs.[3][4] As he stated in his interview with EBS TV's The Reggae and Afrobeat Music program, his first works were reggae songs by Jalud Awel: "Amta Chaweta" and "Dagos Yale Sitota". Kassa is well known for customizing afrobeat to the Ethiopian traditional music, specifically the Wolaita and Tigrigna styles, naming his style "Ethio-shake".[citation needed] The songs he composed and produced were top hits and were nominated in many Ethiopian awards. Among those are Sancho Gebre's songs "Atasayugn" and "Tanamo".
He is among the Afrimma 2020 Nominees under the category of "Best Male East Africa". He was the only nominee from Ethiopia.[5][6] Aljazeera put his song "Lageba New" on their ""ultimate year-end African music playlist" in 2019.[2]
Notes
edit- ^ "Lageba New" is producer Gildo's first single as a singer.
References
edit- ^ EBS TV (17 October 2020), "ጊልዶ ሊያገባ ነው! አዝናኝ ቆይታ ከአፍሪማ ሽልማት እጩ ጊልዶ ካሳ ጋር/ቅዳሜን ከሰዓት" [A fun session with Afrima Award nominee Gildo Kassa], Youtube (in Amharic), retrieved 11 November 2024
- ^ a b Isama, Antoinette. "The songs that made Africa – and the world – dance in 2019". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "The Ben, Sherrie Silver nominated for AFRIMMA 2020". The New Times | Rwanda. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "Gildo Kassa from Ethiopia". Popnable.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "AFRIMMA 2020: Full List Of Nominations". ABTC. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ Ezeh, Mario. "Afrimma 2020 Nominees". AFRIMMA. Retrieved 19 October 2020.