Habibi Funk have featured heavily on this site over the years and for good reason – they are a world leader when it comes to reissuing Middle Eastern and North African gems. It’s very exciting therefore to hear of brand new music coming from the stable. Here’s a taster of the musical wares of Charif Megarban:
The label says: “Habibi Funk is excited to share Marzipan – our first full length contemporary release courtesy of Beirut’s multi-instrumental producer phenomenon, Charif Megarbane.
“The LP is a journey into Charif’s styling, one he terms “Lebrary”: a vision of Lebanon and the Mediterranean expressed via the prismatic sonics of library music.
“Drawing influence from artists that encapsulate the Habibi Funk sound, such as Ziad Rahbani, Ahmed Malek and Issam Hajali, Charif translates these influences into an LP that is equally at home in ’23.”
It’s sounding dreamy so far, as the track Pas De Dialogue set to this video, also shows:
Meanwhile, the 22nd release on the label is a collection of Lebanese reggae sensation, Ahmed Ben Ali, whose music spans the mid 2000s.
The label’s contact with Libyan music began around five years ago in an abandoned tape factory in Tunisia. A room was full of unused – but already printed – inlay cards for tapes and three large rooms spreading over two floors of unsold stock – roughly 100,000 copies already dubbed with music. Reggae in Libya has dominated the charts since its arrival in the 1970’s and flourished with some of the pioneers of Libyan reggae such as Ibrahim Hesnawi, Najib Alhoush and The White Birds Band. Composers like Ahmed Fakroun and Nasser Mizdawi also played around with the genre.
A 12″ from 2020 on Habibi Funk uncovered to many the classic party starter Subhana.
It came to light after the label connected with Ben Ali by phone, who stated: “The Libyan folkloric rhythm is very similar to the reggae rhythm. So, if Libyan people listen to reggae, it’s easy for them to relate because it sounds familiar.
“This is the main reason why reggae became so popular here. We played the reggae Libyan style, it’s not the same as in Jamaica. We added our Oriental notes to it and if you mix both it becomes something great.”
With a bit of laughter, he adds that “…to me it’s still original reggae, it’s the Libyan style, not some bullshit.”
WORLD TREASURES MUSIC 