Introducing Elijah The Prophet: A Rastafari Musical Youth
The first and lasting impression of Elijah The Prophet is that of a youngster with an old soul. He is wise beyond his years, highly intuitive and spiritually centered. Music has been part of his upbringing and surroundings from a very early age . The first instrument that he latched on to was the drum and was already composing his own songs in primary school. By the age of 13, he was enrolled at the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. It is there where he learned how to read music and his main focus was on voice and drums. He would later progress to guitar and continued honing his drumming skills. He continued on the same path after completing high school by enrolling at the Academy of Sound Engineering in Auckland Park, Johannesburg; focusing on music production, live sound, broadcasting, audio and post production.
He has been fortunate enough to be in a position to be able to complement his academic studies with performances as a sessionist for various productions both in school at outside of school. He has been exposed to live performances by experienced musicians who performed at his parents’ premium events venue, Matlombe Lounge, situated in Newtown, the cultural centre of Johannesburg.
It is here that he got his first taste of performing live sets by doing backing vocals for various known and unknown artists; and that greatly enhanced his craft and cemented his love for music and performing arts.
In 2016 he was part of the tribute show with NSA graduates at Joburg Theatre to honour the late Mama Mariam Makeba. Later in the same year he was an opening act at the Good Luck Bar where he did a small performance, singing and drumming with the Golden Bullets, his old teen band.
2017 was a notable period for him. He landed a role playing guitar in the Disney themed music production called “Starstruck”, staged at Joburg Theatre for Festival of Fame (now Festival of the arts). In the same year at the same Joburg Theatre he was in the musical production dedicated to Freddie Mercury of Queen where he was later awarded a certificate for being the most adaptive player. That lead him to landing a role as a guitarist in Grammy award winning production called The Wiz – a musical adaptation of the Wizard of Oz. Back at shcool he got involved in the production called “Unis Dance la Musique”
It was only in 2019 where for the first time he performed his own compositions and cover songs as a guitarist backed by the school band that he was part of. He would later team up with a friend Buddist who is a rapper and together they would perform their own compositions and Elijah would close the set with a solo performance. He has made appearances at A.M Live show at NSA and at the Festival of the Arts where he played songs portrayed in the production by GibsenKente ” Too late ” Directed by Makhaola Ndebele.
Elijah The Prophet born Elijah Matlombe is the firstborn of six children of the Matlombe Family. A Rastafari Family who adheres to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, one of the mansions in the Rastafari Community. He grew up in an environment surrounded by creatives and could often be spotted helping his parents during gigs. Him and his dreadlocked siblings could be spotted at almost every gig that takes place at the family run events venue, giving him an added advantage of understanding the business side of music as well.
It is evident that Elijah is a youth who has a greater appreciation of music and performing arts. His collection of music boasts names like Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Gregory Issacs, John Holt, Freddie McGregor, Sugar Minott, Cornel Campbell, The Heptones, Mighty Diamonds, Inner Circle, Third World, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear and many more artists from back in the day. A musical youth who is wise beyond his age.
He is now branching out from the family tree and embarking on a musical rites of passage to fully enter the industry as an independent musician. The year 2020 will see him testing the waters by hosting his own shows and putting together his own band. 2020 is also the year he turns 18 and to celebrate this, he is hosting a show called: Reminiscence: A tribute to the Joseph kings | Elijah The Prophet Live backed by The Messengers Band Matlombe Lounge 29th February 2020.
Here is to the future Pioneer dedicated to the craft with a holistic well rounded approach who will add canonical archive of the sound of reggae music
