Somalia Sounds

Somalia is currently in the news because many people outside of Minnesota are angry that the people of the 5th Congressional district of Minnesota elected a US citizen of Somali descent to Congress, where she has served since 2019.  Rep. Ilhan Omar has been a citizen in 2000 at age 17, meaning she has been a citizen longer than the First Lady of the United States and her frequent critic and fellow African Elon Musk.

At the time of this writing, the Department of Homeland Security has been scouring her apartment for evidence of unspecified criminal activity, weeks before an election she is nonetheless very likely to win. 

None of that is about music, but since some of the political attacks on her are SOLELY about her country of origin, it is in the spirit of the singing planet to share a couple of musical highlights from Somalia. 

I will admit of not knowing much about the music of the region and that I know mostly tragic stories of poverty and violence. But those stories do not fully define a place, and certainly they do not define its people. 

What I have found so far include the anthem Wavin' Flag by K'NANN and a Tiny Desk concert by the same performer. I have also found an excertp of LA MIA GEOGRAFIA by Saba Anglana. I love the title ("My Geography") and can almost understand the Italian lyrics. Further research into both of these artists is warranted!

The States of Somalia map is from World Atlas.

Afro-Peru: Tony Succar

I am talking about Peru in my Latin America survey course this week, drawing mainly on my only experience (so far) in the country, which was a 2014 birthday adventure with my spouse in Cuzco, Huarocondo, and Machu Picchu. Because this entire experience was in the Andes, I prefaced the discussion with El Condor Pasa -- this video pairs the audio of the Simon & Garfunkel studio with assorted Andean visuals. There being no decent concert video available, this has been the choice of  100,000,000 YouTube viewers. 

As the Andean conversation continues, I decided to bring in another kind of Peruvian music. I remembered learning about Afro-Caribbean music from the 1995 Luaka Bop collection The Soul of Black Peru, but I decided to look for video because I'm too lazy both to locate that CD and figure out how to play it in my classroom.

It was thus that I learned about the brilliant Tony Succar. He moved from Peru to Miami at the age of two and went on to earn two music degrees at Florida International University. I discovered this video from a 2016 TEDxFIU event. This is the first time I've notice a musical contribution to a TEDx event. This alumnus performance is a fabulous blend of music and dance from several genres -- from jazz to rumba to samba and beyond. 

I usually advise not to read the comments -- especially on YouTube -- but in this case, many viewers from all over the planet express their appreciation for the music itself and the diversity of the performers. My favorite comment is EL PERU ES DE TODAS LAS SANGRE -- Peru is of all blood. 

This video led me to an earlier one TEDx FIU performance led by this same alumnus, but with a different band. It is their tribute to Michael Jackson, and in this one Succar does speak a bit between numbers to explain his musical/cultural project. Both of these are well suited to the event motto "Beyond the World You Know." 

The choice of FIU to include live music in an otherwise verbal event reminded me of our recent experience in another US Latin American City. The opening session of the 2026 New Orleans Book Festival included very serious discussions by very serious writers. That alone would have been quite rewarding. But because all of the humanities matter, that opening session ended with a very memorable drumline.

Halftime Opera

NOTE: THIS IS STILL (Feb 11) A WORKING DRAFT. I PROMISE -- I HAVE A LOT MORE TO SAY HERE!

This post is, of course, inevitable. The Planet Sings cannot not include some reflections on the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show featuring Puerto Rican phenomenon Bad Bunny. The possible titles for such a post are as plentiful as the comments overflowing social media this Monday morning. 

It was from among these that I picked up the opera connection. People have enjoyed opera in languages they do not understand for as long as there has been opera -- because the story-telling is so good. And that is certainly the case here. As others have pointed out online, we often do not understand all the words in songs we love in our own languages. ("Excuse me While I Kiss This Guy" is one of my favorite examples.) 

Of course, I expected a lot, but I realized we were going to have even more than a lot when I caught a glimspe of the field in those minutes between the last field goal of the second quarter and the launching of the Benito Bowl. I saw huge clumps of sugarcane being brought onto the field, and I realized we were in for a real geography lesson. Bad Bunny and his amazing team did not disappoint.