Music of Somalia
Encyclopedia
The music of Somalia refers to the musical styles, techniques and sounds of Somalia
.
folklore
. Most 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 Ethiopia
, Sudan
or Arabia, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricist
s (midho), songwriter
s (lahan), and singers (odka or "voice").
Native instruments include the batar drum and the kaban or oud
. Bands such as Waaberi
and Horseed
have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, such as Ahmed Cali Cigal and Maryam Mursal
, have fused traditional Somali music with rock and roll
, bossa nova
, jazz
, and other modern influences.
Somali popular music
began with the balwo
style, which was created by Abdi Sinimo
. This style began in Dilla
, and then spread throughout the area. It was a mixture of modern poetry and Somali dance music.
Cabdillahi Qarshe rose to fame in the early 1940s as part of the qaraami style. Many qarami songs from this era are still extremely popular today. This musical style is mostly played on the kaban (oud
). The first Somali kaban players were: Ali Feiruz
, Mohamed Nahari, and others in 1950s.
During the Siad Barre
regime, music was suppressed except for a small amount of officially-sanctioned music. There were many protest song
s produced during this period.
in Somalia to air popular Somali music was Radio Somali, based in Hargeisa
. Nowadays, Somali music is also available for download on popular online Somali music portals.
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
.
Overview
Somalia has a rich musical heritage centered on traditional SomaliSomali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. Most Somali songs are pentatonic; that is, they only use five pitches
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
per octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
in contrast to a heptatonic
Heptatonic scale
A heptatonic scale is a musical scale with seven pitches per octave. Among the most famous of these are the major scale, C D E F G A B C; the melodic minor scale, C D E F G A B C ascending, C B A G F E D C descending; the harmonic minor scale, C D E F G A B C; and a scale variously known as the...
(seven note) scale such as the major scale
Major scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
. At first listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
or Arabia, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
s (midho), songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s (lahan), and singers (odka or "voice").
Native instruments include the batar drum and the kaban or oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
. Bands such as Waaberi
Waaberi
-History:The troupe was established by members of the Radio Artists Association. It was supported by the Somali government as part of the Somali National Theater, and made tours throughout several countries in Africa, including Egypt and Sudan. After a coup in 1969, the ensemble was renamed...
and Horseed
Horseed
Horseed is a district of Marka, a city in the Shabelle Hoose region in southern Somalia. Its geographical coordinates are 1° 45' 0" North, 44° 38' 0" East.-References:...
have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, such as Ahmed Cali Cigal and Maryam Mursal
Maryam Mursal
-Biography:Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in Mogadishu. She performed in nightclubs and her brand of music, featuring a mix of blues, soul, Somali and Arabic influences, and known as Somali...
, have fused traditional Somali music with rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and other modern influences.
History
The first major form of modern Somali music began in the mid-1930s, when northern Somalia was a part of the British Somaliland Protectorate. This style of music was known as Xer-Dhaanto, an innovative, urban form of Somali folk dance and song. This period also saw the rise of the Xaaji Baal Baal Dance Troupe, which became very influential over the course of its long career.Somali popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
began with the balwo
Balwo
Balwo is a style of music and poetry practiced in Djibouti as well as Somalia. Its lyrical contents often deal with love and passion. Balwo was founded by Abdi Sinimo....
style, which was created by Abdi Sinimo
Abdi Sinimo
Abdi Sinimo or Abdi Sinimoo , born Cabdi Deeqsi Warfaa, is a Somali singer and songwriter who established the balwo musical style.-Biography:...
. This style began in Dilla
Dilla
Dilla is a city located in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.-History:Local control of the city is disputed between Awdalland, a proposed autonomous state, and Somaliland, a self-declared independent republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of...
, and then spread throughout the area. It was a mixture of modern poetry and Somali dance music.
Cabdillahi Qarshe rose to fame in the early 1940s as part of the qaraami style. Many qarami songs from this era are still extremely popular today. This musical style is mostly played on the kaban (oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
). The first Somali kaban players were: Ali Feiruz
Ali Feiruz
Ali Abdi Feiruz, known as Ali Feiruz, was a prominent Somali musician.-Biography:Feiruz was born in 1931 in Djibouti. He later moved to Hargeisa, Somalia in the late 1950s, and then on to Mogadishu in 1973....
, Mohamed Nahari, and others in 1950s.
During the Siad Barre
Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre was the military dictator and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ....
regime, music was suppressed except for a small amount of officially-sanctioned music. There were many protest song
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
s produced during this period.
Music institutions
The first radio stationRadio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Somalia to air popular Somali music was Radio Somali, based in Hargeisa
Hargeisa
Hargeisa is a city in the northwestern Woqooyi Galbeed region of Somalia. With a population of approximately 2 million residents, it is the second largest city in the country. Hargeisa is the capital of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region...
. Nowadays, Somali music is also available for download on popular online Somali music portals.
List of Somali singers, songwriters and instrumentalists
- Abdi SinimoAbdi SinimoAbdi Sinimo or Abdi Sinimoo , born Cabdi Deeqsi Warfaa, is a Somali singer and songwriter who established the balwo musical style.-Biography:...
- Abdi issa jama
- Farhia Ali
- WaaberiWaaberi-History:The troupe was established by members of the Radio Artists Association. It was supported by the Somali government as part of the Somali National Theater, and made tours throughout several countries in Africa, including Egypt and Sudan. After a coup in 1969, the ensemble was renamed...
- Jama Dhoodi
- Ahmed 'Hudeydi' Ismail Hussein.
- Hibo Mohamed Hudoon (Hibo Nuura)
- Kinsi Xaji Aden
- saado ali warsame
- Hussein Ali Kahin
- Abdikadir Moalin Yusuf Jubba
- Mohamed Ahmed kuluc
- Mohamed Nuur GiriigMohamed Nuur GiriigMohamed Nuur Giriig was a Somali singer, specializing in traditional Somali music.-Biography:Giriig was born in 1935 in Berbera, Somalia to a Warsangali Darod family, originally from Las Khorey on the Maakhir Coast....
- Omar Dhuule
- Mohamed Mooge
- Ahmed Ga`ayte
- Ali Roble Subagleh
- Ismail Abdi Guled " Ismail Yare"
- Mohamud Jama " Ali Dhere"
- Daud Ali Mas-haf
- Mohamed Suleman Tube`
- Haliimo Khaliif Magool
- Maryam MursalMaryam Mursal-Biography:Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in Mogadishu. She performed in nightclubs and her brand of music, featuring a mix of blues, soul, Somali and Arabic influences, and known as Somali...
- Madar Ahmed Mohamed (Madar Yare)
- K'naanK'naanK'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most...
- Hasan Adan SamatarHasan Adan SamatarHasan Adan Samatar is a prominent Somali singer, guitarist and theatrical performer.-Biography:Samatar was born to an artistic family in Dinsoor, Somalia in 1953. He grew up in Baidoa, where he attended primary and elementary schools...
- Ahmed Mooge Liban
- Mohamed Mooge Liban
- Abdiqadir Sheikh Ali Sanka
- Yusuf Jamac Ganey
- Mohamed Saleebaan
- Mahamoud Mohamed Cige (Buuse)
- Mohamed Yusuf
- Amina Abdilahi
- Aar MaantaAar Maanta-Biography:Maanta moved from his native Somalia to the United Kingdom in the late 1980s due to the civil war there. As a lone child in a new country, he turned to music for comfort, absorbing many genres including pop, rock, hip hop, R&B and house. Maanta started studying music at school and then...
- Muslimo Qasim Hilowle (Pianist)
- Fadumo Qasim
- Abdihakim Mohamed Warsame (Calaacal)
- Hassan Ganey
- Siraad Abdulle Ugas
- Ismail Sh.Ahmed Cagaf
- Mohamed Aden Dacar
- Ahmed Saleeben Bide
- Ali Saleban Bide
- Ahmad Ali Igaal
- Ahmed Mooge Liibaan
- Maxamed Nuur Giriig
- Salaad Maxamed Shardi (Salaad Darbi)
- Mohamed Nur Shareco
- Barre Mohamed Fiidow (Barre Leento)
- Hasan Shiekh Muumin
- Huseen Aw Faarah
- Mohamed Ali Kaariye
- Mohamed Cabdulahi Sangub
- Mohamed Ibraahim Hadrawi
- Sahal Macalim Ciise
- Cabdi Adan Qays
- Hasan Haji Abdilahi (Hasan Ganay)
- Bashir Mahamed Idiris Baatil Taffare)
- Roda Cabdulahi Jamac (Roda Wacan)
- Maxamed Ahmed Shimbir
- Nuur Eebo
- Abdoulkader Juba
- Mahamed Jeesto
- Mohamed Omar Huryo