'Each record is valuable to me'
Mosul collector preserves Iraq’s rural musical heritage through decades-old archive
MOSUL — Surrounded by thousands of vintage records and cassette tapes, Mosul native Rakan Abbo has spent more than 50 years curating one of Iraq’s most comprehensive private archives of rural and classical Arab music, with a focus on preserving the country’s southern heritage.
“I’ve been passionate about rural singers since 1970,” Abbo told 964media. “My library includes records by artists like Hadhiri Abu Aziz, Nasser Hakim, Dakhel Hassan, Khudair Hassan, and many others, as well as female singers like Zuhur Hussein, Zakia George, Salima Murad, and Masouda Al-Amaratli.”
His collection, he said, contains between 1,000 to 1,500 vinyl records and 2,000 to 3,000 cassette tapes, spanning Iraqi artists and legendary Arab performers such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Umm Kulthum, and Mohammed Abdel Wahab. “This library brings together all the rural singers of Iraq,” Abbo said.
He began building the archive in the early 1970s, making trips to Baghdad, Nasiriyah, and Amarah to meet fellow collectors, known locally in Mosul as kiwel. “They ask me about the records I have, just as I ask them,” he said.
“Each record or cassette is valuable to me,” he added. “They’re not for sale, and I can’t part with them.”
Among the rarest items in his collection are seven records by Khudair Hassan, seven by Nasser Hakim, and early recordings by Hadhiri Abu Aziz dating back to 1932, 1945, and 1948. “Some of these go back to 1925,” he said.
He recalled Baghdad’s artist scene in its golden years, especially the Artist Café near the Radio and Television building. “I was keen to go there, where I bought some records from Al-Rasheed Street,” he said.
Now, his home doubles as an informal listening room. “Friends come over to listen and say they forget themselves in the atmosphere of this music here,” he said.
