Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Menlik Zergabachew, 19, of Silver Spring, Md., performed Sublime’s “Santeria” as his audition song. He had the coaches bobbing their heads immediately, but was well into the performance before Blake Shelton turned his chair. And it looked like he would be the only coach to do so until Gwen Stefani joined him at the last second. She complicated Menlik on his music, his look and his style. Menlik joined Team Gwen. After she said she’d let him sing reggae music.

His background: His parents were born in Ethiopia and came to American looking for a better life, Menlik says. His dad worked as a janitor; his mom at McDonald’s until they could save enough money to start their own business, a soul food restaurant. He said he got into singing when he was joking around at a friend’s band practice. And so a reggae singer was born. Menlik said he dropped out of high school to start gigging, a decision that didn’t go over very well with his parents, though both showed up for his audition on The Voice.

What the show didn’t show: Menlik performs with a reggae band called The Relics and performs mostly in the D.C. area because he says there isn’t much of a reggae scene in Maryland. That band released a single called “Sarah” in January, and you can check out a couple of their other songs below and on their Soundcloud page. Menlik says his parents listened to traditional Ethiopian music until his mom became a fan of Michael Jackson. That was his introduction to American pop music; Bob Marley, naturally, served as his introduction to reggae, though he says he eventually started listening to more of the stars of the genre. “I found that that’s the only music that really feels right for me,” he says now.

Update: He lost his battle-round match to Troy Ritchie; they sang “Maneater” by Hall and Oates. But he was stolen by Pharrell Williams. He sang “Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley in the knockout round, but lost to Jean Kelley. This time, he wasn’t saved.

On iTunes: “Santeria,” his audition song, and “Sarah,” the single from The Relics.

Keeping up with Menlik:
Twitter: @MenlikZ
Facebook
YouTube

“Sarah”

“The Knowing”

“Get In, Get Out”