Habibi Funk Print 001 - Spotlights Magazine

We’ve had the idea for a print music magazine for some time now. The intention behind Spotlights is to gather some of the research we’ve done for our own releases, but also to include stories that go beyond the scope of our record label. It took us much longer than we planned, but we're finally very happy to be able to share the result with you. 88 pages, A4 format. Each order of the magazine includes an additional free poster by Raphaelle Macaron imagining Sun Ra's first concert in Egypt.

Our first issue features the inimitable Sun Ra in 1971, performing in Cairo at the apartment of Hartmut Geerken, co-founder of the Cairo Jazz Band. Alongside these magnificent photos, we publish a final and comprehensive conversation with the late Geerken, conducted at his home in Germany in 2021. We delve into the visual world of Moroccan studio photographer Fouad Zerrei, profile anonymous soul singer Pale Jay, and explore Mulatu Astatke’s timeless ethio-jazz piece Tezeta as a cinematic tool in RaMell Ross’s film Nickel Boys (2024). We also invite vinyl collectors Algerian Vinyl and CrocoDiscos to share their most cherished records.

Edited by Armani Syed, with texts by Ahmed Khalil, Yasser Abellatif, Gabrielle Messeder, Joshua Thermidor, Armani Syed, and Jannis Stürtz; design by Robert Winter, Jeremias Diekmann, and Raphaelle Macaron.