Habibi Funk Records

Jannis Stürtz first became interested in the music of the region while visiting Casablanca, Morocco in 2002.[1] Habibi Funk's first release was al-Zman Saib (الزمان صعيب), a 1970s reinterpretation of British rock group Free's song "All Right Now" by a Moroccan group called Fadaul et les Privileges (فضول).[1]

Habibi Funk has re-released an expansive collection of Arabic funk and soul bands from the 1960-80s, including compilations. Apart from these, there are albums featuring a specific band, like Sudanese funk musician Kamal Keila,[3] the "King of Sudanese Jazz", Sharhabil Ahmed[4] or The Scorpions and Saif Abu Bakr,[5][6] as well as North African musicians such as Al Massrieen, Ahmed Malek, Raze de Soare,[7] Mallek Mohamed, and Hamid El Shaeri.[8]

Jannis Stürtz claims to have awareness of the political aspects of the label's work, addressing "the context of post-colonialism" and avoiding orientalist "stereotypical visual language."[1][9] He also added that Habibi Funk Records licenses the music it reissues directly from the artists or their families, who get a 50% cut of the profits.[1]

In an interview with The Vinyl Factory, Stürtz commented: "If you’re a European or Western label and you’re dealing with non-European artists’ music, there’s obviously a special responsibility to make sure you don’t reproduce historic economic patterns of exploitation, which is the number one thing when it comes to the post-colonial aspect of what we are doing."[2]

• Music of Sudan
• Music of Morocco

• Official webpage