The Somali funk spirit that has overcome anarchy and exile - BBC News

Somalia's music scene is booming once again after years of conflict and Islamist threats.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesIn our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe considers how important protest music is to the Somali culture of survival.

Growing up in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, in the early 1990s I loved nothing more than sitting with my aunt in our bombed-out house lip-syncing to songs that sum up the Somali spirit of resistance.

Listening on our battered old cassette player, one of our favourite stars was Saado Ali Warsame, whose voice will always be remembered by Somalis as one that was critical of the military regime of Siad Barre.

Using rich metaphors, she was scathing of the junta that drove luxury vehicles as many went hungry - and it was one of her songs, Landcruiser, that fuelled feelings during the civil war that led to Barre's overthrow in 1991, after which Somaliland seceded from the rest of Somalia.

During that brutal conflict military forces literally flattened Hargeisa - once regarded as the city of modern Somali music and culture where anti-colonial protests first began.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-64414472?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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