Maryam Mursal

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Maryam Mursal (born January 1, 1950 ) is a musician (singer and composer) from Somalia .

biography

Maryam Mursal grew up in a Muslim family with four daughters. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began a career as a professional singer in Mogadishu . She performed in nightclubs and her music, a mix of blues , soul , African and Arab influences called Somali jazz , became popular across the country. Mursal has performed both solo and with the Waaberi music group , which was associated with the Somali National Theater. After she - in her song Ulimada , "The Professors" - criticized the authoritarian government under Siad Barre , her songs were banned, making her the first taxi driver in Somalia to get by.

After the escalation of the Somali civil war , Maryam Mursal and her five children traveled seven months on foot and by hitchhiking first to a Kenyan refugee camp and then through Ethiopia until she finally found refuge in the Danish embassy in Djibouti . She later processed this odyssey in one of her songs.

Today Mursal lives in exile in Denmark.

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personal data
SURNAME Mursal, Maryam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Somali singer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1950