Exploring Habibi Funk

I always get so excited when I come across music from regions and places I’ve never visited. It’s like tasting a new flavor that you’ve never experienced and wanting more and more of it. That’s exactly how I felt when I starting digging into music from the northern regions of Africa like Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. Berlin based, reissue label, Habibi Funk, is devoted to music originating from the Middle East and North Africa. Today’s newsletter dives into three artists I discovered via their label. It’s a fun one, let’s dig in!

We’re going way back to the early ’80s, to a song that help birth modern Arabic pop music.

Hamid Al Shaeri is a Libyan-Egyptian legend who basically brought synths, drum machines, and a heavy dose of ‘80s sparkle into the Arabic music scene. His sound set the stage for what would later be called Al Jeel, a wave of modern, Western-influenced Arabic pop.

Ayonha came out in 1983, recorded partly in London and finished in Egypt. It’s got this super light, breezy energy. You can hear the drum machines, the sparkly acoustic guitar lines, and then his vocals floating in this dreamy space.

The song title translates to “Her Eyes”. According to the translation of lyrics it seems to be about describing a lover’s eyes and the beauty of her elegance.

What’s crazy is that when Ayonha first dropped, it didn’t make a huge splash. But fast-forward a few decades and it gets reissued by the crate-diggers at Habibi Funk, suddenly popping up in DJ sets and playlists worldwide. Now it’s a cult classic.

Throw this on during your morning coffee, a sunset drive, or honestly whenever you want to feel transported. It’s got sunshine, nostalgia, and just enough groove to make you smile.

If you’re more into electronic music, OVO Sound Radio has a sick remix of this song that I cannot find anywhere. If you want to listen to it, click here.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Ahmed Malek was basically Algeria’s answer to Ennio Morricone or François de Roubaix. He composed scores for countless films in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, blending jazz, funk, North African rhythms, and cinematic orchestration into something totally his own.

Autopsie d’un complot comes from a rare 1978 soundtrack for an Algerian political thriller of the same name. The title translates to “Autopsy of a Plot”, and the music sounds exactly like that. It’s tense, jazzy, a little eerie, but so damn smooth. There’s no vocals, it just a vibey track to throw on and enjoy.

Most of Malek’s work barely made it outside Algeria back then. But thanks to Habibi Funk, his music finally got rescued from the archives and shared with the world.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Dalton was a band from Tunisia in the early ’70s in Tunisia who were a group of five young musicians that basically just gigged at beach resorts. Pretty epic.

In 1971, this band scraped together enough cash to head to Rome and cut their one and only single.. the A-side is this disco-leaning track called Alech, but the B-side? That’s Soul Brother. That’s where the magic is.

This track floats in on lush horns, laid-back bass, and silky English vocals that glide across the groove. It’s got that mellow, yacht-soul energy that transports you to slow warm summer beach day.

After recording their one and only 7-inch, Dalton basically disappeared. The single vanished into obscurity, the band members drifted apart, and Soul Brother became one a lost gem… until Habibi Funk came to the rescue. The label reissued the track in 2015 and introduced them to the world.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

In honor of Habibi Funk, I am sharing his Boiler Room set which features a slew of amazing, vibe ridden gems from his label that he has discovered and so kindly shared with the world. The story of the labels inception and history is just as awesome as the music it shares. If you are interested to learn more, I suggest you read this article. It’s an an example of the finest form of music curation.

Anyways, turn this on while you work, you won’t be able to sit still in your chair or wherever you work.

This photo captures a powerful cultural moment from Morocco during the 1960s or 70s. The scene shows a group of traditionally dressed women performing a folk music circle with frame drums.

The woman in sunglasses, smiling and clapping along, is the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, arguably the most influential Arab singer of the 20th century. Known as “The Star of the East”, Umm Kulthum was revered across the Arab world for her emotive voice and poetic, often politically charged songs.

Did you enjoy this article? Let me know below, please and thanks!

I hope you all have a great rest of your week and I’ll see you on Friday! Don’t forget to share the newsletter with your friends, family or audiences on social media! It would mean the world.