In the 70s and 80s, before Somalia was torn apart by civil war, the east African country had a vibrant pop music culture; bars and clubs flourished in Mogadishu and Hargeisa which have been captured on the compilation “Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa”.
After the civil war began in 1991, the Somalia music industry played a huge part to remind the people of their culture and why they should return to it.
The compilation of 15 songs includes some of Somalia’s biggest hits of the time. Bands like Iftiin, Dur Dur, Sharero, Waaberi and songbirds like Faadumo Qaasim and Hibo Nuura will be featured on the album.
Vik Sohonie from Ostinato Records says Somali culture is ‘a culture of songwriters and theatre’, which Mohamed Siad Barra had tried to develop after he came to power nearly a decade after independence in order to decolonise the country and export their own culture.
