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Dr Elfas Maude, famously known as the lead singer for the band Elfas and Simba back in the day, has been out of circulation for quite some time, but he made a grand re-appearance with the release of his latest 13-track solo album, called Makhadzi, last month.
Dr Elfas, who was born at Ngovhela village, Hamadamalala section, says he never thought he would end up singing one day. “I met Zimbabwean guitarist Simba Nyakujara back in 2002, who inspired me and planted the seed within me to become a musician.” In 2003, Elfas and Simba recorded an album, called Maitele, which became very popular with songs such as Donngi.
“I never imagined myself singing, not to mention recording a song that others could relate to. Making a song was harder then, compared to now,” he said. However, he managed to hold on and in 2006 released the album Mama, with the hit songs Mathada and Mukwita. This was followed by the album Sedza Zwau, which won the SATMA award for Best Tshivenda Album in 2008. After these achievements, he felt the need to take a break.
The break, he says, was important. Firstly, for personal reasons (goals he had set for himself to be reached), and secondly, for him to have time to produce new quality music with which he could later reintroduce himself again as ‘Dr Elfas’ to the music industry.
Besides making music, he takes education very seriously. “To me it is a journey to a rich fulfilment and independence. From an early age, my mother, who never went to school, encouraged me to go to school every day. While other boys bunked school to go bird hunting or go play with their self-made go-carts (gidzhigidzhi), I always maintained that I must first go to school, and play later.”
He attended Ngovhela Primary School, proceeded to Guvhukuvhu Secondary School and later Mbilwi High School, until he passed matric. After school he went to the University of Venda and later the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa). He proceeded to further his studies at the University of Stellenbosch, then went on to the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and enrolled at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). From these universities he obtained a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, as well as a PhD.
“Now that I am back in music after all this time, I hope and pray that my fans are thirsty to hear and enjoy my new music.”
Makhadzi is available for download and streaming from online stores such as Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, and others. Due to the previous abuse of his albums, he regrets to say, no hard copies are available.
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Dr Elfas Maude released his latest album, called Makhadzi, after a long sabbatical from the music industry. Photo supplied.
By: Kaizer Nengovhela
Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.
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