Sajida Obeid & Khudeir Hadi

Volume 2

• Khudeir Hadi: Marrena Beekom Jareh (We Passed Through You Like a Wound))
• Sajida Obeid: Walla Wen (Or Where)
• Khudeir Hadi: Watad (Wedge)
• Sajida Obeid: Wafena (We Kept Our Promises)
• Khudeir Hadi: Jareh Rouhi (The Wound in My Soul)
• Sajida Obeid: Al Bakht (The Fortune)

• Khudeir Hadi: Hadet Tiffaha Hamra, Labes Khadra (I Gifted a Red Apple, I Was Wearing Green)
• Sajida Obeid: Willa La Lah, Rouhi Khadra (Willa La Lah, My Soul is Green)
• Khudeir Hadi: Asharrebak, Khobz W Shai Ali Yabu Al Hasan (I I Will Serve You Drink, Bread and Tea, O Father of Hassan)
• Sajida Obeid: Ani Ahebbak (I Love You)
• Khudeir Hadi: Hamama (Pigeon)
• Sajida Obeid: Ya Mullah (Oh, Mullah)
• Khudeir Hadi: Ya Qalbi (Oh, My Heart)
• Sajida Obeid: Yataala (He Is Acting Arrogant)
• Khudeir Hadi: Al Fakeer (The Poor)
• Sajida Obeid: Masaleh (Interests)

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This tape brings together Sajida Obeid, an iconic figure in Iraqi folk music, and the lyrical poet Khudeir Hadi. Sajida's deep, melodious voice carries a series of songs interspersed with Khudeir's poetry. Sajida Obeid was a singer from the Kawliya community (known as Iraqi Gypsies) who lived as a minority in Baghdad. She began singing at age twelve and rose to become one of Iraq's most celebrated folk singers, performing choubi and Iraqi folk heritage across the region and later, to the Iraqi diaspora globally. Kawliya singers, including Obeid, appeared regularly on Iraqi national television throughout the 1980s and 1990s. During the Saddam era she performed at parties for the political class, whose appetite for Kawliya music and voice was strong. She recalled that many people from that period would approach her to intercede for detained relatives or seek her help locating them in government prisons. After the Iraq War, fearing she would be seen as a supporter of the former regime, she left Baghdad for Erbil. She spoke of the harassment and threats she faced as part of a broader experience common to Iraqi female artists of her generation. She continued to perform until the very end, returning regularly to Baghdad to sing for audiences from across the city's communities and social classes. She passed away in April 2026. Khudeir Hadi was an Iraqi folk poet known for his songs and public recitations. He performed his poem Five Plus Five, about Iraq's martyrs of the Iran-Iraq War, before Saddam Hussein at a gathering of poets, earning him wide recognition at the time. He passed away in April 2019.