The country of Libya is not the first country one thinks of when it comes to reggae, but as it turns out, Libya produced a fair share of excellent artists in the genre. The ever-estimable Habibi Funk Records have released a labor of love dedicated to one of Tripoli’s finest, Ibrahim Hesnawi. From the label’s Bandcamp site:
“Hesnawi crafts restless grooves with evident buttressing from a reggae foundation. Highlighted across the LP is how Hesnawi essentially pioneered such an effortless synthesis between traditional Libyan music and Jamaican reggae stylings, plus the endlessly disparate funk, jazz, and disco accents which firmly situate Hesnawi in a league of his own.”