Various Artists - Habibi Funk: A Selection From Libyan Tapes (Various Artists) (Vinyl)

This compilation isn't a sweeping history of Libyan music - it's a personal journey into the sounds we fell in love with while digging through tapes, conversations, and stories across Libya and beyond. Rather than spotlighting the country's most famous musical exports, the compilation brings forward a mix of overlooked gems and local classics of the cassette era: artists whose work thrived despite political limitations, and scarce international exposure. The music featured here blends reggae rhythms, synthy disco grooves, gritty pop, house, and funk, a vibrant collision of genres that reflects Libya's unique sonic landscape from the 1980s to the early 2000s. During this era, Independent artists relied on makeshift home studios or travelled abroad to record in Tunisia and Egypt, gradually building their own infrastructures for creativity. By the 90s and early 2000s, as access to digital equipment increased, a few of the artists began setting up their own studios - a shift that gave rise to a more self-sufficient recording culture across the country. The resulting sounds are anything but homogeneous. They reflect Libya's geographic and cultural crossroads: North African rhythms meet Arab melodies and deep African roots. Reggae, in particular, took on a local Libyan flavour - not just musically, through the slowed-down cadence of traditional shaabi beats, but socially, as a vehicle for expressing identity and pride. What ties all the artists on this comp together is a boundary-pushing approach to genre and style: recorded in small studios, exchanged by hand, and shaped by a cross-pollination of influences, from Benghazi to Tripoli and beyond.

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Cheb Bakr - Allom
2. Group Hewaya - Irja
3. Shahd - Erhal Keef Alshams Tgheeb
4. Ahmed Ben Ali - Jara
5. The White Bird Band - Ya Ummi
6. Khaled Al Melody - Jani Bigool
7. Fathi Aldiyqz ; Sons of Africa Band - Palestine Is My Homeland
8. Libya Music Band - Kol Al Mawaeed
9. Stars of Africa - Baed Al Farha
10. Khaled Al Reigh - Zannik
11. Khaled Al Zlitni - Jiti Yam Eloyoun Buhoor
12. Murad Najah - Hubbi Leeki
13. City Lights Band - Kul Ghrub
14. Adil Al Ramli - Mawoud
15. The Hope Duo - la Tgheeb Anni Wala Youm