Maryam Mursal ( so, Maryan Mursal, ar, مريم مرسل) (born 1 January 1950) is a Somali composer and vocalist.

Biography

Mursal grew up in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

in a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family with four daughters. Mursal's family was originally from Somaliland, and is from the Madhibaan clan. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

. She performed in nightclubs and her brand of music, featuring a mix of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, Somali and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

influences, and known as ''Somali jazz'', became popular across the country. Performing primarily solo, she also collaborated with

Waaberi Waaberi ( so, Waaberi), was a Somali musical supergroup. History The troupe was established by members of the Radio Artists Association. It was supported by the Somali government as part of the National Theatre of Somalia, and made tours thro ...

, a 300-member music and dance troupe associated with the Somali National Theatre. Later, after having criticized Somalia's then ruling military government, she was banned from singing for two years, and made her living driving a taxi. During the subsequent civil war in her homeland, Mursal and her five children moved to neighboring

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

, where she found asylum in the Danish embassy. It was this odyssey that provided the gem of her solo recording ''

The Journey The Journey may refer to: Film and television * ''The Journey'' (1942 film), or ''El viaje'', an Argentine film * ''The Journey'' (1959 film), an American drama starring Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, and Jason Robards about the Hungarian Revoluti ...

'', with

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

s and back-up vocals from

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

. Mursal still lives abroad, now residing in UK. She has toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with

and appeared with

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

. Her work has been produced by Peter Gabriel's Real World record label.

Discography

* ''New Dawn'' album * ''

'' * ''Indho caashaq (love eyes) * 1964 first song

Quotes

*"Traditional music is very important to me but I was also listening to people like

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, everything." *"We as artists are responsible if something wrong is taking place in our society. It's very important for us to speak up, even though we may have to do it with a double tongue. We have to speak out for our people." *"I was always the first woman. I was the first woman singing Somali jazz, I was the first star, and I was the first to drive a taxi! I was the first to drive a lorry, and now I'm the first woman from Somalia to have an international record."

References

External links

Maryam Mursal Songs

Interview with Maryam Mursal on FindArticles.com

Video interview with Maryam Mursal on Freemuse.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mursal, Maryam 1950 births Living people Real World Records artists 20th-century Somalian women singers Somalian Muslims 21st-century Somalian women singers Somalian expatriates in the United Kingdom

Biography

Discography

Quotes

See also

References

External links