{"title":"Compilations","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"an-eclectic-selection-of-music-from-the-arab-world-part-2","title":"Habibi Funk 015: An eclectic selection of music from the Arab world, part 2","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThis compilation of songs is not meant as a historic reflection of popular music of the “Arab world.” It is a very personal selection of songs we grew to like at Habibi Funk. It is music that historically never existed as a unified musical genre. We think it’s important to make this distinction and to have the listener understand that the majority of the music on this compilation does not come from the highly famous names of the musical spectrum of North Africa and the Middle East. Instead, the final body compiled for this record consists of some – at least for us – nichey pearls and often overlooked artists; resulting in a diverse range of styles from Egyptian organ funk, disco sounds from Morocco, an example of the lively reggae scene of Libya, political songs from Lebanon, soundtrack music from Alge- ria, a musical union between Kenya and Oman, and much more.\u003cbr\u003eThe photo we chose for this cover somehow could be seen as an allegory of the sounds we feature on the label. It depicts Algerian composer Ahmed Malek at an ice cream bar dur- ing his stay in Japan for the World Expo in Osaka, 1970. He later said that his visit to Japan and especially the manga culture left a distinctive mark on the way he created his own compositions. With this in mind, it feels as a suiting visual representation for the mu- sic on this\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecompilation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAccordingly, the compilation you are holding in your hands offers a much wider range of music than just funk influenced sounds. Sure, it brings back Fadoul, who we have already dedicated a full length album to. He was the mystical Moroccan singer who - influenced by the sounds of James Brown- created his own musical vision full of energy but also still very intimate. Another artist we have featured before is Ahmed Malek, the grand Algerian soundtrack composer, whose music is largely connected by a distinct feeling of melancholic beauty or Hamid Al Shaeri, the Egyptian hit producer whose track “Ayonha” was probably the most widely appre-ciated track off our first compilation. But we have also learned that this format of a compilation can serve as a medium to introduce artists to our audience, who we are planning to dedicate full length releases to in the near future, such as Ibrahim Hesnawi. Hesnawi is the father of reggae music in Libya - a genre still widely popular in Libya - and whose presence in the country is commonly connected to the rhyth- mic similarities of reggae with some form of Libyan folkloric music. Nahib Alhoush is another Libyan artist, whose musical output we will spotlight in the near future. In the 1970s, he was the co-founder of Free Music, one of the first Libyan bands introducing western influences into their music. After the band stopped performing together he started an at least equally successful solo career under his own name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I got into Arabic music around five or six years ago, I knew pretty much nothing about it. Realistically, I still know very, very little about it and I’m by no means an expert. I just had the opportunity to visit the region frequently, trying to learn about music I might like. Most of the bands, I happen to enjoy, were fairly obscure and therefore a lot of the music on this compilation seems to be largely forgotten. After sharing many of the old records and tapes online through mixes, I have realized that there is a huge disparity be- tween the interest in the music on the one hand and its availability on the other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll tracks on this compilation are fully licensed, most directly from the artist or in the case of artists, who are deceased licensed from the artist’s family. There are two exceptions: Hamid Al Shaeri’s track was licensed from SLAM! as the label is still active under the name Sonar. Zohra’s “Badala Zamana” from the great Belgian label MTMU, who has reissued this track under license from the producer on 7” format before. As a European label dealing with non- western artists we try to be aware of the responsibilities that derive within the making, regarded from a post-colonial point of view by demanding on ourselves not to reproduce exploitative economic patterns. We split all of the profits from our releases equally with the artists without deducting any costs that are not directly related to the release (e.g. we pay for our research to find an artist as well as all travel costs from our share of the profit). Our agreements are licensed deals with limited terms after which the rights fall back to the artist or the artist’s family. The master rights stay with the artists, we just license them. We do not include publishing rights in our deals. We think it is important in today's reissue market, where too many shady business transactions happen, to be transparent about our licensing policies. We are always available for any questions, requests as well as more detailed information.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased August 6, 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album was licensed from the artists featured on this album. We pay 50% of the profits of this release as royalties. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing rights were not included in our agreement.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Habibi Funk Records","offers":[{"title":"2LP VINYL","offer_id":53899343954255,"sku":"673790035912","price":24.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53899343987023,"sku":"673790035929","price":14.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"2LP COLOR VINYL","offer_id":54648328388943,"sku":"","price":29.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/2205\/6743\/files\/Habibi-Funk-An-Eclectic-Selection-Of-Music-From-The-Arab-World-_Part2_-Habibi-Funk-015-05-Digital-Cover.jpg?v=1741616546"},{"product_id":"an-eclectic-selection-of-music-from-the-arab-world","title":"Habibi Funk 007: An eclectic selection of music from the Arab world","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eHabibi Funk is dedicated to re-releasing a style of music that historically never existed as a musical genre. We use the term to describe a certain sound that we like from the countries of the Arab world. The songs we chose were created in places quite far from another and under very different circumstances. Some were written and recorded during war times, others in exile. Despite the differences we think there is a musical connection between them. Essentially, we are interested in the musical endeavors, in which artists from the Arab world mixed local and regional influences with musical interests that came from outside of the region. Even though the name suggests it’s all about funk music, our focus is more than just that. Often these influences might be inspired from Western popular music such as soul, pop and rock but it’s not limited to that either. Some of our favorite records are best described as Arabic zouk (a genre originating from the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe) like Mallek Mohamed’s music, Algerian coladera (a popular musical style from the Cape Verdean islands) or Lebanese AOR, which means the process of musical influences displayed on this compilation was much more versatile than just taking Western music as a blueprint and translating it with a local accent. The compilation features 15\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edifferent artists. Some you might already know thru Habibi Funk’s releases like Fadoul, Ahmed Malek, Dalton or Al Massrieen, while others are meant as an introduction to artists like Kamal Keila, Sharhabeel Ahmed, Attarazat Addahabia \u0026amp; Mallek Mohamed who will all release full length albums on Habibi Funk in 2018.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn todays world there are still many stereotypical conceptions to be found when it comes to the Arab world. Contrary to what a lot of Western narratives and media suggest, the Arab world we got to know through extensive traveling in several countries of North Africa and the Middle East, is a very versatile terrain. A place full of different stories, ideas and beliefs. And we hope that the music we release helps as a tiny, tiny piece of a larger puzzle to establish a diverse, more nuanced yet adequate idea of how musically vibrant this very diverse region once has been and also still is. At the same time we do not want anyone to misunderstand this compilation as a selection of songs to represent Arabic musical history of the 1970s and 1980s. This compilation is nothing more than a very personal curation of songs we like and in no way reflects on what has been popular in a general sense.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll tracks on this compilation are directly licensed from the artist or, in the case of artists who are sadly no longer alive, from the artist’s family. There are three exceptions: Hamid Al Shaeri’s track was licensed from SLAM! and the tracks from Belbao and Attarazat Addahabia were both licensed from Boussiphone. As a European label dealing with non- western artists we try to be aware of the responsibilities that derive within the making, seen from a post-colonial point of view by demanding ourselves not to reproduce exploitative economic patterns. We split all of the profits from our releases equally with the artists without deducting any costs that are not directly related to the release .Our agreements are license deals with limited terms after which the rights fall back to the artist or the artist’s families. We think it is important in today's reissue market, where too many shady business transactions happen, to be transparent about our licensing policies.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased December 1, 2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album was licensed from the artists featured on this album. We pay 50% of the profits of this release as royalties. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing rights were not included in our agreement.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Habibi Funk Records","offers":[{"title":"2LP VINYL","offer_id":53919021859151,"sku":"4018939328931","price":24.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53919021891919,"sku":"4018939328948","price":14.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/2205\/6743\/files\/An-Eclectic-Selection-Of-Music-From-The-Arab-World-Habibi-Funk-007-01-Digital-Cover.jpg?v=1741616298"},{"product_id":"habibi-funk-031-a-selection-of-music-from-lybian-tapes","title":"Habibi Funk 031: A Selection Of Music From Lybian Tapes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eA gorgeous heavy box set (same style as the one we did for Ahmed Malek) includes:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lightweightBreak\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHabibi Funk 031: A Selection of Music from Libyan Tape - 2xLP\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHabibi Funk 032: A Selection of Music from Libyan Tape - Bonus EP\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lightweightBreak\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe box set comes with an extensive booklet (32 pages, the longest we ever produced) with interviews with all the artists from the compilation. The bonus EP is exclusively available as part of this box set\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWe're more than happy to announce our 31st release which happens to be our 3rd various artist compilation. The album is dedicated to the cassette tape scene in Libya from the late 80s to early 2000s, from disco to reggae to pop. We also have a box set with a bonus LP available which for now is only available on bandcamp. The full release is dropping on the first friday in July. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis compilation isn’t a sweeping history of Libyan music — it’s a personal journey into the sounds we fell in love with while digging through tapes, conversations, and stories across Libya and beyond. Rather than spotlighting the country’s most famous musical exports, the compilation brings forward a mix of overlooked gems and local classics of the cassette era: artists whose work thrived in spite of political limitations, and scarce international exposure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe music featured here blends reggae rhythms, synthy disco grooves, gritty pop, house, and funk, a vibrant collision of genres that reflects Libya’s unique sonic landscape from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Many of these recordings were recovered from the TK7 cassette factory in Sousse, Tunisia, a now-demolished site that once played a quiet but vital role in distributing and manufacturing Libyan music. Other tracks were digitised in a Cairo hotel\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eroom in 2021, where we transferred nearly 100 tapes over the course of three days, on-site using a high-grade cassette deck brought into Egypt with us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom that trove emerged artists like Ahmed Ben Ali, Cheb Bakr, and Najib Alhoush \u0026amp; The Free Music, who have already featured on our earlier releases. Their sounds sit alongside contributions from this release from the likes of Khaled Al Melody, Fathi Aldiyqz \u0026amp; Sons of Africa Band, City Lights Band, Libya Music Band, and Group Hewaya.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring this era, Independent artists relied on makeshift home studios or travelled abroad to record in Tunisia and Egypt, gradually building their own infrastructures for creativity. By the 90s and early 2000s, as access to digital equipment increased, a few of the artists began setting up their own studios — a shift that gave rise to a more self-sufficient recording culture across the country. The resulting sounds are anything but homogeneous. They reflect Libya’s geographic and cultural crossroads: North African rhythms meet Arab melodies and deep African roots. Reggae, in particular, took on a local Libyan flavour — not just musically, through the slowed-down cadence of traditional shaabi beats, but socially, as a vehicle for expressing identity and pride. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat ties all the artists on this comp together is a boundary-pushing approach to genre and style: recorded in small studios, exchanged by hand, and shaped by a cross-pollination of influences, from Benghazi to Tripoli and beyond.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleases July 4, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album was licensed from the artists. We pay out 50% of the profits of this release as royalties. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing was not included in our agreement (We feel it’s important to be transparent about these deals, therefore we will include these infos in all future releases).\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\" id=\"license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Habibi Funk Records","offers":[{"title":"BOXSET","offer_id":55418243514703,"sku":"673790037473","price":55.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"2LP VINYL","offer_id":55418243547471,"sku":"673790037442","price":24.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":55418243580239,"sku":"673790037466","price":14.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/2205\/6743\/files\/Habibi-Funk-A-Selection-Of-Music-From-Libyan-Tapes-Habibi-Funk-031-01-digital-Cover-Compilation.jpg?v=1750952531"}],"url":"https:\/\/habibifunk.com\/collections\/compilations.oembed","provider":"Habibi Funk Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}