Comoros

Re-uploaded by request 09/08/2024.

 

Abou Chihabi is a guitarist, folk singer, & songwriter from Grande Comore (Ngazidja), one of the islands which compose the archipelago of the Comoros located in the Indian Ocean, roughly between the East-African coast & the north of Madagascar.

Chihabi immersed himself in music as a youth in the 50s. He launched his musical career in 1968 as a member of the Dragons. The following year, he toured West Africa with the Moroni Music Association. This experience inspired him to form his own group, Folkomore Ocean, upon the tour's conclusion. Chihabi reached his first peak in 1976 when he won a prestigious song contest. The winning tune became the national anthem for the young, recently-independent state of Comoros. His high, however, was short-lived. When, in 1978, a coup d'etat forced the new government to fall, he had to flee the country.

Chihabi's place was nonetheless etched into the history of the islands. He wrote the National Anthem of his country. He was ousted in a coup. He dragged his sadness & anger through the streets of Kenya & Tanzania. He continued to make a name for himself even in exile.

Abou uses his music to fight against social injustice & racial discrimination in Comoros. Abou Chihabi chose to call his group Folkomor Ocean because his main source of inspiration is his native land, the Comoros. As much as his songs are about injustices, hypocrisies, & oppression, they are also about the purity of innocence, the honesty of feelings, & peace, His style is reggae-tinged pan-African music.

 

Abou Chihabi - Folkomor Ocean, Playa Sound PS 65188, 1997.

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Tracklist –

Upwa Nvubwe Uhoza

Lewo! Lewo!

Sote Ndugu

Tsi Haki

Maesha

Mbio! Mbio!

Maji Ya Limbi Mtsanga

Masiwa

Vura Nkasiya Na Pondro

Mwana Madji

Upepo Do Wani Baliya

 

 

Enjoy,

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