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The Music of the Somali people (Somali : Muusiga Soomaalida) is music following the musical styles, techniques and sounds of the Somali people.
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The Music of the Somali people (Somali : Muusiga Soomaalida) is music following the musical styles, techniques and sounds of the Somali people.
Somali people have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali folklore.
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Somali songs are pentatonic. That is, they only use five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major scale. At first listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Oromo in Ethiopia, Sudan or the Arabian Peninsula, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricists (lahamiste), songwriters (abwaan), and vocalists (odka or "voice"). [1] The Somali word for dance is ciyaar. [2]
Traditional instruments prominently featured in the music of Somaliland include the oud lute (kaban). It is often accompanied by small drums and a reed flute in the background. However, heavy percussion and metallic sounds are uncommon in Somaliland. [1] The riverine and coastal areas of Somalia use a wide variety of traditional instruments including: [3] [4] [5]
Somali popular music began with the balwo style, pioneered by Abdi Sinimo, who rose to fame in the early 1940s. [6] [7] This new genre then in turn created the Heelo style of Somali music. [8] Abdi's innovation and passion for music revolutionized Somali music forever. [9]
Introduction of melody in modern Somali song is credited to Abdullahi Qarshe, who is recognised for introducing the kaban (oud) as an accompaniment to Somali music. [10] Qarshe is revered by Somalis as "father of Somali music". [11]
Many qaraami songs from this era are still extremely popular today. This musical style is mostly played on the kaban (oud). Prominent Somali kaban players of the 1950s include Ali Feiruz and Mohamed Nahari.
During the rule of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (Somalia), music was suppressed except for a small amount of officially sanctioned music. There were many protest songs produced during this period, pioneered by the people of Somaliland who were trying to gain independence from the government of Somalia, especially the genocidal Barre regime.
Bands such as Waaberi and Horseed have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, like Ahmed Ali Egal, Maryam Mursal and Waayaha Cusub have fused traditional Somali music with pop, rock and roll, bossa nova, jazz, and other modern influences.
Music recorded in the 1970s was preserved in Hargeisa, buried underground, and is now available at the Red Sea Foundation at the Hargeisa Cultural Center, and in Radio Hargeisa. The Barre dictatorial regime effectively nationalised the music scene, with bands and production under state control. Bands were operated by the police, the army and the national penitentiary. Female singers were encouraged more than was the case in most of East Africa. Most musicians had left the country before 1991. Hiddo Dhawr is now operating as the only live music venue in the city. [12]
The first radio station in Somalia to air popular Somali music was Radio Kudu based in Hargeisa, modern-day Somaliland. The first song to be broadcast was composed by Guroon Jire in 1940 in English, Somali and Arabic, before being renamed the following year to Radio Somali. [13] The head of the Music department was Mohamed Saeed (Guroon jire). Music is now regularly broadcast on the state-run Radio Mogadishu,a number of private studio named Sony Music Somalia a division of Sony Music Entertainment as well radio popular television networks such as Horn Cable Television (a private company which is based in Somaliland).
Cabdi Deeqsi, who created a genre of love poetry called Balwo
Hargeisa is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also the regional capital of the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland.
The Djiboutian Music refers to the musical styles, techniques and sounds of Djibouti. The first major form of modern Djiboutian music began in the mid-1940s, when Djibouti was a part of the French Somaliland. Djiboutian music is characterized by poetry, so that listening to a Djiboutian song is first paying attention to its meaning. The artist rocks the listeners in the cheerfulness of the refrains and the turn of the sentences. Often sung by a couple, a song is played in the form of a sleight of hand between a man and a woman, one recounting his feelings and his love, even his passion for the other, until the other accepts or rejects this offer.
The Isaaq is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
The Dir is one of the largest and most prominent Somali clans in the Horn of Africa. They are also considered to be the oldest Somali stock to have inhabited the region. Its members inhabit Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, and northeastern Kenya.
The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) is the monetary authority of Somalia. Somalia has struggled to reestablish a functioning state since the collapse of an authoritarian regime in 1991. Somalia has been cited as a real-world example of an anarchist stateless society and a country with no formal legal system. The Transitional Federal Government, formed in 2004, was recognized as the central government of Somalia. Among other duties, it is in charge of ensuring financial stability, maintaining the internal and external value of the local currency, and promoting credit and exchange conditions that facilitate the balanced growth of the national economy. Within the scope of its powers, it also contributes to the financial and economic policies of the State.
Over the course of the Somali Civil War, there have been many revolutionary movements and militia groups run by competing rebel leaders which have held de facto control over vast areas within Somalia.
Somali literature is the literature used by the ethnic Somalis of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen, Eritrea, Ogadenia, and Kenya.
The Awal, also contemporarily known as the Habr Awal, Subeer Awal, and alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal is one of the largest subclans of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Isamusa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation.
Abdi Sinimo was a Somali singer, songwriter, poet and musical innovator. He is noted for having established the Balwo genre of Somali music, which was the forerunner of the Heelo genre and thus gave birth to modern Somali music.
Balwo is a style of music and poetry practiced in Somalia as well as Djibouti. Its lyrical contents often deal with love and passion. The Balwo genre was founded by Abdi Sinimo.
Ali Abdi Feiruz, known as Ali Feiruz, was a prominent Somali musician. He belonged to the Habr Awal clan of the Isaaq clan family.
Abdullahi Qarshe (1924–1994) was a Somali musician, poet and playwright known as the "Father of Somali music". In 1957 he wrote and composed the Somali National Anthem, Qolobaa Calankeed.
This is a list of Somali aristocratic and court titles that were historically used by the Somali people's various sultanates, kingdoms and empires. Also included are the honorifics reserved for Islamic notables as well as traditional leaders and officials within Somali customary law (xeer), in addition to the nobiliary particles set aside for distinguished individuals.
Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec, was a Somali singer, songwriter and record producer. he gained the nickname of " King of Voice."
Elmi Boodhari was a Somali poet and pioneer in the genre of Somali love poems. He is known among Somalis as the King of Romance. He was born near the border between Ethiopia and Somaliland in 1908 and hailed from the Eidagale sub-clan.
Radio Hargeisa is a Somaliland public service broadcaster, Its headquarters are at Ministry of Information, Hargeisa.
Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge Liibaan is a Somaliland politician and is the current Mayor of Hargeisa, the largest city and capital of Somaliland.
Events in the year 2022 in Somaliland.
