Maalesh was born Othman Mohamed Elyas in Moroni (Grande Comore), to a Comorian father and Ugandan mother, in a family of seven children. From the age of twelve, he was involved in music, first as a chorister and percussionist, then as a guitarist. After long periods abroad (Kenya, Saudi Arabia), he returned to the Comoros in 1989 and devoted himself entirely to music. He then acquired his nickname Maalesh, an Arabic expression meaning "it's not serious", which encourages tolerance and understanding. Revelation of the 2nd edition of MASA in 1995 in Abidjan, and winner of the Grand Prix "Découverte RFI 1995" in Dakar, Maalesh embarked on an international tour with RFI radio in 1996. He recorded his first album "Wassi Wassi" in Djibouti in 1998, which was later distributed on the Mélodie label, and embarked on another African tour of the Alliances & Centres Culturels Français (Madagascar, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, South Africa...).