Helen Meles - Biography

Biography

"Helen Meles - Soulful voice which sends strong vibes all over"

Helen Meles' biography is the story one of the biggest African stars of the early 21st century. She established herself as a talented singer, bona fide diva during her two decade long musical career. She has become one of the biggest selling Eritrean artists of all time, and has captured the hearts and minds of Eritreans and neighbouring African countries alike.

Her Musical Career started in her early years at the age of 8 when she joined the Kassala RED FLOWERS band (ቀያሕቲ ዕምባባ) which was formed by the EPLF's Education Branch of Kassala. With the band she performed in different places of Sudan as a Lead Singer. Her friends describe her as a free-spirited and rebellious individual who was not afraid to show her ‘other’ sides of her personalities. Helen is a highly passionate artist who reads and is responsive to her own feelings, a trait which is not clearly exhibited in many artists, especially those from the fighter community. One can feel the throbbing of her soulful voice which sends strong vibes all over. Her beauty is mesmerising and it can be described by her proud and majestic posture and her profile can be sketched by her captivating facial expressions while doing her dance routines.Strangely, if one is not familiar with her history, she does not exhibit any indication of the harsh life she led in the battlefields of Eritrea in her looks. Indeed, she was a combatant with a strong touch of music in her. Although somewhat camouflaged, perhaps carefully depicted, she seems to elegantly include her past experiences in her some of her songs.

Helen's expertise lies in popular music which encompasses a wide range of styles of both local and international origins. She takes Tigrinya music to a different level by mixing traditional and modern music which is influenced by European, Arabic and African music. For instance, (only junior to the Creator) “ምንኣስ ፈጣሪ’’, can be described as one of the most interesting songs from the ‘ResAni’ CD because of its new style which Helen introduces in the song – a mixture of South African beat accompanied by a gospel-like sound. Helen can easily be compared to the diva of the Eritrean music scene of the sixties and seventies, Mrs Tberh Tesfahunegn, who instilled (ዘስረጸት) a strong patriotic feeling in many young Eritreans of the time. Both Tberh and Helen sing from the heart and their musical styles, although separated by decades of events and technological developments, are interestingly similar. It is vague how deep Helen’s knowledge of Teberh is, as there exists a generational divide between them.

One can feel that there is a controversy in her style, as opposed to her lyricists’ and composer/producers’ input in her songs. It is bit confusing to tell whether they complement each other or simply tear each other apart beautifully. Whether they are at odds or complement each other, the end product is highly interesting. It would be interesting to see how Helen Meles’s confident demeanour, her untamed passion, her eloquent language of the heart, and most of all, her powerful voice can yet again transform Eritrean music into another level in the coming decade.