Habibi Funk

Habibi Funk, also known as Habibi Funk Records, is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. Its catalog concentrates on reissues and archival releases connected with music from the Arab world, especially recordings made during the 1960s through the 1980s. The label is particularly associated with Arabic funk and soul, although its releases also encompass jazz, pop, rhythm and blues, and other forms of regional popular music. Alongside the recordings themselves, Habibi Funk has become known for presenting historical and cultural context through accompanying booklets and editorial material. The label emerged from Jannis Stürtz's interest in North African music. Stürtz first developed that interest during a visit to Casablanca, Morocco, in 2012. He subsequently helped establish Habibi Funk and also performed and DJed under the Habibi Funk name. Rather than operating primarily as a platform for new studio artists, the label built its identity around locating, licensing, restoring, contextualizing, and internationally distributing older recordings that had often received limited exposure outside their original markets. Its first release was "al-Zman Saib," a 1970s Moroccan reinterpretation of the British rock group Free's song "All Right Now," performed by Fadaul et les Privileges. This release established several characteristics that would remain central to the label: a focus on overlooked regional recordings, an interest in the movement of musical ideas across borders, and the presentation of music that sits outside the standard Western popular-music canon. Habibi Funk's catalog has expanded to include both compilations and releases centered on individual performers or groups. The label has issued or reissued work associated with Sudanese musicians such as Kamal Keila and Sharhabil Ahmed, including recordings connected with The Scorpions and Saif Abu Bakr. Its North African selections include music by Al Massrieen, Ahmed Malek, Raze de Soare, Mallek Mohamed and Hamid El Shaeri. The catalog therefore spans multiple national and regional scenes rather than representing a single unified genre or country. A distinctive part of the label's public stance is its attention to the ethical and political implications of redistributing music from outside Europe and North America. Stürtz has discussed the need to acknowledge post-colonial power relations in the music industry and to avoid reducing Arab music to orientalist imagery or stereotyped visual presentation. The label has also stated that it licenses reissued music directly from artists or their families, and that those rights holders receive 50 percent of profits. This licensing model is intended to avoid reproducing historical patterns in which Western intermediaries profited disproportionately from music created elsewhere. Habibi Funk's role is therefore both commercial and archival. It makes historically significant recordings available to contemporary listeners while framing them through liner notes, booklets, artwork, and other contextual material. Its work has helped connect regional music histories with international vinyl and digital audiences, while its catalog remains rooted in the artists, families, and original recording communities associated with the music.

Habibi Funk developed from Jannis Stürtz's engagement with music from North Africa and the wider Arab world. Stürtz encountered this musical culture more closely during a 2012 visit to Casablanca, Morocco. The experience led to a sustained interest in older recordings that circulated within regional markets but had comparatively little international visibility. Stürtz later co-founded the Berlin-based label Habibi Funk and used the same name for his activities as a DJ. The label's first release was "al-Zman Saib," a Moroccan recording from the 1970s by Fadaul et les Privileges. The track is a local reinterpretation of "All Right Now," originally recorded by the British rock group Free. Its selection was significant because it demonstrated how international pop and rock influences were adapted within Arab musical environments, rather than treating the region's music as isolated from global exchange. The release also established Habibi Funk's preference for historically distinctive recordings that could be rediscovered through reissue. After its initial release, Habibi Funk assembled a broader catalog of Arabic funk, soul, jazz, and related popular music recorded mainly between the 1960s and 1980s. The label's output has included compilations as well as releases devoted to individual musicians and groups. Sudanese material in the catalog includes work associated with Kamal Keila, Sharhabil Ahmed, The Scorpions, and Saif Abu Bakr. North African releases and reissues have included music connected with Al Massrieen, Ahmed Malek, Raze de Soare, Mallek Mohamed, and Hamid El Shaeri. These selections reflect a geographically broad conception of the Arab world's popular music, extending across different national scenes and musical traditions. Habibi Funk has also distinguished its releases through presentation and documentation. Albums are commonly accompanied by booklets or other editorial material intended to provide background on the artists, recordings, and historical circumstances. In this respect, the label operates not only as a distributor of physical and digital recordings but also as an archival intermediary. Its work gives contemporary audiences access to music whose original circulation may have been limited by geography, availability, or the absence of sustained international catalog infrastructure. The label has publicly addressed the political and economic questions involved in reissuing music made by non-European artists for European and global audiences. Stürtz has described awareness of post-colonial dynamics in the music business and the responsibility to avoid orientalist visual language. Habibi Funk has stated that it seeks to license recordings directly from the original artists or their families, with those rights holders receiving half of the profits. This policy is framed as an attempt to establish a more equitable relationship between a European reissue label and the communities connected to the source material. Through its catalog, packaging, and licensing position, Habibi Funk has become associated with the international rediscovery of Arab-world music from the mid-to-late twentieth century. Its history is therefore defined less by a succession of conventional pop releases than by the systematic recovery, contextualization, and circulation of recordings from overlooked regional scenes.

• 2012

  Stürtz develops a deeper interest in North African music

  [1]Habibi Funk Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  Jannis Stürtz's visit to Casablanca, Morocco, became an important starting point for his engagement with music from the region and later informed the creation of Habibi Funk.

• First release: al-Zman Saib

  [1]Habibi Funk Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  Habibi Funk's first release was a 1970s Moroccan reinterpretation of Free's "All Right Now" by Fadaul et les Privileges.

• Expansion into a regional reissue catalog

  [1]Habibi Funk Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  The label expanded from its initial Moroccan release into compilations and artist-focused reissues covering Arab funk, soul, jazz, and related music from the 1960s through the 1980s.

An independent archival and reissue label that introduces historically important Arab-world funk, soul, jazz, and popular music to international audiences while emphasizing artist and family licensing, historical context, and post-colonial responsibility.

• Reissue albums

  Arabic funk and soul reissues

  The core of Habibi Funk's catalog consists of reissued recordings by Arab-world funk and soul artists, particularly music originally recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. These releases make historically significant material available to modern international listeners in physical and digital formats, often with contextual editorial content.

• Archival release

  Artist-focused archival albums

  Habibi Funk issues albums centered on particular performers and groups rather than limiting its output to broad compilations. Examples associated with the catalog include Sudanese musicians Kamal Keila and Sharhabil Ahmed, The Scorpions and Saif Abu Bakr, and North African artists such as Ahmed Malek and Hamid El Shaeri.

• Compilation album

  Regional compilations

  Compilation releases bring together recordings from different artists or scenes across the Arab world. They function both as listening collections and as introductions to regional musical histories that have often been underrepresented in international catalogues.

• Single or archival recording

  al-Zman Saib

  The label's first release is a Moroccan 1970s reinterpretation of the Free song "All Right Now," performed by Fadaul et les Privileges. The track reflects the exchange between Western rock repertoire and local Arab musical interpretation that is central to Habibi Funk's curatorial identity.

• Adopt direct licensing and profit-sharing for reissuesStrategy

  Background

  The label has described the reissue of non-European music as involving post-colonial economic and representational responsibilities.

  Action taken

  Habibi Funk stated that it licenses music directly from artists or their families and gives those rights holders 50 percent of profits.

  Aftermath

  The policy became part of the label's public positioning and its stated effort to avoid reproducing exploitative historical patterns in the international music business.

  Rights-holder share of profits. 50%

  Source

1. 1Habibi Funk Recordsen.wikipedia.org