Magool
| Magool مغول |
|
|---|---|
| Birth name | Halima Khaliif Omar |
| Born | May 2, 1948 Beledweyne, Somalia |
| Died | March 19, 2004 (aged 55) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Genres | Somali music |
| Occupations | musician |
| Instruments | vocals |
| Years active | 1960s-1990s |
Magool (Somali: Magool, Arabic: مغول), born Halima Khaliif Omar (May 2, 1948 – March 19, 2004), was a Somali singer.
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[edit] Early years
Magool was born in the city of Dhusa Mareb, the capital of the Galgaduud region in central Somalia. She had four siblings.
In 1959, while living at the house of a cousin of hers named Mohamed Hashi, she joined a small Mogadishu-based band. Within that year, she moved to Hargeysa, where she accompanied the latter city's version of the Mogadishu-based Waaberi ensemble of musicians. It was at this point that fellow musician and songwriter Yusuf Haji Adan dubbed her Magool (meaning "flower"), a nickname by which she would come to be popularly known.
In the mid-1960s, Magool returned to Mogadishu. She then married a young general named Mohamed Nur Galaal. The marriage did not last but her popularity continued to rise.
[edit] Peak
In the 1970s, Magool sang famous patriotic songs while Somalia was at war with Ethiopia over the Ogaden.
By the late 1970s, while she still interpreted love tunes, Magool also began singing Islamic songs that criticized Somalia's then ruling military government. A self-imposed exile followed, which would last until 1987. Her concert of that year marking her return to the nation's capital, titled "Mogadishu and Magool", is to date the most successful concert in Somali history, with more than 15,000 people reportedly turning out in the city's stadium.
Magool's unique performances, ability to memorize entire albums' worth of material in a matter of hours, and her deep, emotive voice would eventually earn her the title of Hoyadii Fanka, or "Mother of Artistry."
[edit] Later years
In the early and mid 1990s, Magool took an active part in the Somali civil war and was often seen mounted on top of a pick-up truck with loud speakers urging her clansmen to slay people from other clans mainly the Darood clan.
On March 19, 2004, Magool died in a hospital in Amsterdam of breast cancer. She did not leave any children.
Her nephew, K'naan, is a popular hip-hop artist and poet.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Magool Songs
- 'A brave man doesn't need weapons'. Robin Denselow, The Guardian. Friday 25 May 2007
- Taariikh Nolaleedkii Fanaanadii Weynad Ee Xaliimo Khaliif Magool. Aweis Shiino, somaliland.org Muqdisho,Somalia. 23 March 2004
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