Berlin-based reissue label Habibi Funk’s latest release is a lively 7″ of early 2000s Libyan pop by Cheb Bakr. »Samh Almea’ad« combines R&B and hip-hop influences for dancefloor jams that include rap verses from another Habibi Funk artist, Ahmed Ben Ali. The label discovered Bakr’s music through tapes lent to them by Yousef Alhoush, whose father Najib Alhoush ran The Free Music from Libya.
After hearing Bakr’s music, they contacted Ben Ali to find out more about Bakr, and Ben Ali explained that they had worked together at Jamaica Studios in Benghazi but had not kept in touch for years. When Habibi Funk met Bakr, the artist explained how he wanted to reinterpret eastern Libyan folk with contemporary sounds, with both tracks on this release hinting at American influences within rhythmic Arabic melodies.
The title track sees the calls of »inshallah« flowing in between hooks where strings amplify the melody to great effect, adding a bounce throughout the song. And »Rjana Lamta« builds on this with the phat hip hop beat laid down for the bass to slap hard to, with the horn breakdowns adding to the insatiable energy the rhythm and catchy melodies bring. With an album to come soon from Bakr’s collaboration with Habibi Funk, »Samh Almea’ad« teases the fun of Libyan pop reinterpreting its traditional sounds.
Samh Almea'Ad
