Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Iyow Biyaha Ken

I first became aware of Faadumo Qaasim – listed on this record as Fadumo Kassim – when I stumbled on an article about the label Light & Sound of Mogadishu on the Voice of Africa website well over a decade ago. And since that time, I have been searching for anything that was released on that label.

Faadumo Qaasim commonly referred to as “Faynuustii Fanka” – or “the candlelight of the art”. Her father Qasiim Hilowle, better known by his Italian nickname Qasiim Schiffo, was a poet who also played a major role in the struggle for his country’s independence. As early as 1958, while Faadumo was still a child, she was already gaining national attention in Somalia.

As I mentioned in the previous Somali post, there have been a few recent releases to feature the music of Somalia. Faadumo appears on both Analog Africa’s Mogadisco – Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972-1991) and Ostinato Records’ Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa. Oddly, she was left off Afro7‘s Light & Sound of Mogadishu.

Catalog number L&S 1 on Light & Sound of Mogadishu, Somalia. No release date listed.