Various Artists
Habibi Funk: A Selection From Libyan Tapes
-
Included
- Download card
Habibi Funk is more than happy to announce our 31st release which happens
to be our 3rd various artists 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. All songs previously unreleased outside of Libya and not
available on any DSP platforms.
This 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 despite political
limitations, and scarce international exposure. The 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 room 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.
From that trove emerged artists like Ahmed Ben Ali, Cheb Bakr, and Najib Alhoush
& 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 & Sons of Africa Band, City Lights Band, Libya Music Band, and
Group Hewaya. During 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. What 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. All tracks are licensed from their creators and
in the case of the artists being deceased from their estates. All profits are being split
50:50 between us in the licensors and ownership remains with the creators, we only
licensed the music.
to be our 3rd various artists 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. All songs previously unreleased outside of Libya and not
available on any DSP platforms.
This 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 despite political
limitations, and scarce international exposure. The 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 room 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.
From that trove emerged artists like Ahmed Ben Ali, Cheb Bakr, and Najib Alhoush
& 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 & Sons of Africa Band, City Lights Band, Libya Music Band, and
Group Hewaya. During 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. What 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. All tracks are licensed from their creators and
in the case of the artists being deceased from their estates. All profits are being split
50:50 between us in the licensors and ownership remains with the creators, we only
licensed the music.
1. Cheb Bakr – Allom
2. Group Hewaya – Irja
3. Shahd – Erhal Keef Alshams Tgheeb
4. Ahmed Ben Ali – Jara
5. The White Bird Band– Ya Ummi
6. Khaled Al Melody – Jani Bigool
7. Fathi Aldiyqz & Sons of Africa Band – Palestine Is My Homeland
8. Libya Music Band – Kol Al Mawaeed
9. Stars of Africa – Baed Al Farha
10. Khaled Al Reigh – Zannik
11. Khaled Al Zlitni – Jiti Yam Eloyoun Buhoor
12. Murad Najah – Hubbi Leeki
13. City Lights Band – Kul Ghrub
14. Adil Al Ramli – Mawoud
15. The Hope Duo – La Tgheeb Anni Wala Youm
2. Group Hewaya – Irja
3. Shahd – Erhal Keef Alshams Tgheeb
4. Ahmed Ben Ali – Jara
5. The White Bird Band– Ya Ummi
6. Khaled Al Melody – Jani Bigool
7. Fathi Aldiyqz & Sons of Africa Band – Palestine Is My Homeland
8. Libya Music Band – Kol Al Mawaeed
9. Stars of Africa – Baed Al Farha
10. Khaled Al Reigh – Zannik
11. Khaled Al Zlitni – Jiti Yam Eloyoun Buhoor
12. Murad Najah – Hubbi Leeki
13. City Lights Band – Kul Ghrub
14. Adil Al Ramli – Mawoud
15. The Hope Duo – La Tgheeb Anni Wala Youm
