I thought I saw a question on here about what qualifies as qaraami,
I’m not really sure what the strict criteria is. But we can say qaraami songs are songs which:
- Heavily feature the Kaban - played in a distinctive style ( I don’t know the formal name but you can recognise a Somali Kaban melody from a mile right)
- Kaban is often accompanied by Durban and not many other instruments.
- Lyrics are usually (but not always), based on: poems, heelo, or based on folk stories
I don’t think time is such a big factor because there’s qaraami songs from the 70s and 80s, which were contemporaries to Somali disco and pop. There’s also old songs from the 50s and 60s which don’t sound like qaraami because they heavily feature string instruments which gives them a more Middle Eastern ballad quality.