Subhana

A selection of peak Libyan reggae grooves courtesy of Benghazi-born Ahmed Ben Ali, focusing on Ahmed's releases from the mid-2000s. Ali declares, “The Libyan folkloric rhythm is very similar to the reggae rhythm… This is the main reason why reggae became so popular here… We played the reggae Libyan style, it's not the same as in Jamaica. We added our oriental notes to it and if you mix both it becomes something great.” Just unpicking that a little, reggae is undoubtedly a mighty force across North Africa. But its relationship with Libyan traditional and folkloric music is particularly close. Zimzamet, with its rhythmic repetition of lyrics, and the steady marching tempo of wedding chants are two of the local elements which specifically fire up the Libyan school of reggae. The influence of North African and Middle Eastern music, Ahmed's ‘oriental notes’, is also blazingly loud and clear.

Ahmed's reggae is produced with many fine details, inspired by Jamaican dub and drumming stylings along with distant strains of Egyptian-style string ensembles. There are no filler tracks, but the triumphant roots-rockin’ final track, ‘Aziz O Adda’, and the Arabic dub of ‘Ana Middaee’ or ‘La Ta'tather’ are among the standouts.

Last word goes to Ahmed: “To me it's still original reggae, it's the Libyan style, not some bullshit.”