Mereja Forum

[Somaliman]

This song was originally sang by the father of this singer - like father, like son!

[Somaliman]

This song was originally sang by the father of this singer - like father, like son!

Tell me Somaliman, what do you think of Koonshin Yare, I think he might be up there with the greats

I don't know him, to be honest with you. However, he's not the original singer, though I can't remember who it was. The original singer could be among the great ones, but not this plagiarist! If you like this type of music, I think Omar/Cumar Dhuulle is one of a hell singer!

[Somaliman]

Ethwar,

This is the man nicknamed "The king of the voice" among Somalis. Most of his songs are love songs capable to soften any hardened heart!

Yaballo,

How many years have you lived in Somalia, seriously!

[Somaliman]

This song, below, is for Yaballo as I believe he speaks Somali. It's an enlightening song that comforts anyone experiencing tough times. One has to really understand the lyrics to enjoy this highly emotional song!

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

Thanks for explaining to me a certain number of both historical and contemporary facts.

like many Somalis (from Somalia), my knowledge about Ethiopia and its various ethnics and their respective cultures is very limited - even though SinLady is convinced that I'm from Tigray. But from now onward I'll make a bit of effort and do my own research and learn more about them, Oromo people particularly.

I thought you were one of those Oromo guys who went to live in Somalia before the war. I used to know a few of them who studied at the Somali National University and who later became teachers at secondary schools - and I believe most of them later traveled to the USA as this was a fashionable destination at the time.

Thanks for the two songs, I really liked them. The first one is the kind of song that I like to listen to while driving on the highway! Needless to add that both girls are very pretty!

Noted how new-age Somali singers SPOIL those wonderful classic qaraami, wadaani & qaaci style songs by trying to 'modernise' them through the use of those awfully metallic-sounding modern aka western musical instruments & music synthesizers

The vast majority of Somalis agree with you on this, without any reservation! These spoilers are in increase in number exponentially. But not many Somalis bother about even knowing them; they're mostly known for weddings.


By-the-way, I've worked at Radio Mogadishu for a couple of years ages ago, though not in the Somali section.

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

Thanks for the remembrance pictures of times past!

Indeed I've known Abdi Hussein. Some Somalis used to call him 'Cabdi Xusseen Oromo'. I met him not at Radio Mogadishu for the first time, but at a nice villa he was sharing with a couple of Oromo friends of his which one of them was also a friend of mine who used to work for the UNHCR. I even remember that was the first time I've seen the Ethiopian (giant) injera - as you know the Somali one is small. I started to work at Radio Mogadishu about a year later and met him again at RM a few times as everyone there was very busy working different shifts. Working at a Radio Station sounds interesting, but the workload, the shortage of time, the unmissable deadlines, the required ability to ditch something you've been working on for some time and start something new from scratch and get it ready in the nick of time, and the routine frequent short notices coming in from left and right are just unbearable and even off put at times the ambition for working at a Radio Station. The only people, apart from my team, that I used to see often were singers who used to use RM as their hang-out. Sadly, many of those singers have passed away.

Yes, I was able to recognise him despite age like anyone - even though he is not that old! Abdi Hussein and a few other Oromo guys that I knew at that time spoke all of them Somali fluently and were living a relatively comfortable life - and no one treated them as foreigners. That was the old good days in Mogadishu that have gone for good.

Thanks again for sharing!

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

Thanks a lot bro for reminding me the old good days!

I listened to Laali of Abdullahi Arussi (who used to be called Abdullaahi Arusso by Somalis) thousands of times! If I like a song, I can listen to it on loop non stop, and Laali used to be a favourite song of mine among all songs combined, Somali, western, Sudani, Oromo. Laali was also a favourite hit those days among Somalis, and that time was when the Sudanese songs of Salah Ibn Badiya, Mohamed Al Wardi, and Sayid khalifa were playing at every corner in Mogadishu. Speaking of artists, be it Somali or Oromo, they were celebrities, and as RM staff we were privileged to be acquainted with them. Siad Barre supported them more than anyone else.

Abdi Hussein is right, some programs were not saved as the then available technology was poor and Somalia didn't have access to the west. But even many of those that were saved were later either looted or destroyed. Thousands of people were killed and a similar number of private properties were either ransacked or destroyed in Mogadishu alone, so what do you expect for government owned properties that were left unattended! I left Somalia years before the civil war broke out and don't have any firsthand account of the conflict and what exactly happened. I haven't bothered to return since, to keep my old good memories unaffected.

This guy in the video below used to hang around with the Oromo artists. I'll try to meet Abdi Hussein by surprise next year when I go to Minnesota, insha'allah!

Mogadishu was a small paradise those days, since there were no fuckin,g Al- Shabab or any other religious fanatics, Rhum, Gin, and Vodka used to be kept flowing, women were dressed attractively (see in the link below), and cost of living was not high as the vast majority of items and products were locally produced. Sadly, these days most of Somali women just look like a tent, or a penguin - speaking of the way they are dressed.

I'm so sorry to learn that Abdullahi and Yoonis are very unwell. They will be in my thoughts and prayers!

The following two links, below, reflect Mogadishu in the 1970s!

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpspr ... ishu80.jpg

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpspr ... ishu70.jpg


Thanks a lot for sharing and most of all for bringing my favourite song in - Laali!

Take care!

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

The vast majority of Somalis that you can come across these days would tell you that Radio Mogadishu (Raadonii Moqdishoo) has never encompassed a separate service in Afaan Oromo, let alone expecting them to agree with you on the fact that "Laali" (a beloved song of mine at all times) was once a favourite hit in Somalia.

Unlike Habesha music, whose melody, tune, and music sound monotonic in general - at least to my ears - I find Oromo (or Afaan Oromo) songs different from one another - like Somali songs. The artists that you've posted above could be a good example for what I mean - as each of them has a recognizably distinct style.

I don't know whether you know that Somali language is composed of two dialects: Maay and Maxaa Tiri. I find Afaan sounds a bit like Maay dialect more than Maxaa Tiri dialect. There has been an ongoing debate on whether Af Maay is a Somali language on its own, or it's, as I asserted earlier, one of the two dialects that constitute the Somali language.

Raadonii Moqdishoo post is really interesting despite the interference of certain spoilers!

This hotel, in the links below, which has later become the epitome of a ghost building, was also another "hang-out" for those artists!

http://www.puntlandpost.com/pp/wp-conte ... ruba-1.jpg

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/yo ... =2048x2048

It's amazing that you've been able to dig out all this collection of precious treasure! This forum would be attractive if such and similar cultivating topics were discussed. Sensational click bait crap devoid of substance has lately become the staple of this forum, alas. Ten years ago, interesting debates used to take place on this forum, and most of forumers were very mature.

As the Somali singer above is saying in the song (dadku wuu dagaalaa, dabadeed heshiiyaa - people fight but also reconcile afterwards ....), you can call me bother, no te preocupes, no hay problema, hermano! Due to the low quality of most of the topics and comments posted on this forum, I know I've said a few things that I don't really believe at all.

Take care, bro!

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

Igualmente! Encantado de conversar contigo. Te deseo todo lo mejor, hermano!

[Somaliman]

Me revoilà!

I think it would be unfair to conclude this thread without paying tribute to the living legend Ali Birra for his timeless songs of 1970s!

La primera canción es mi favorita. ¡Disfrútala, hermano!

[Somaliman]

Yaballo,

Nada mejor que "Guantanamera", que es quizás la canción Cubana más conocida, para terminar con este thread!

Igualmente, muchisima gracias, mi hermano!