continental drift: morocco
The drift is back!! For our first episode, we’re diving into the music of Morocco. Check out the playlist here, and the recoding on soundcloud here.
Morocco is located in Northern Africa, and is the 40th most populated country in the world, with a population of ~37 million people.
Gnawa is a traditional music style from Morocco, characterized by incantations and repetitive spiritual phrases: a sort of ritual poetry. The main instrument is a three-stringed bass lute, called the “gimbri”.
Gnawa segment:
Solenzara // Omar Khorshid
Laayoune Aaniya // Jil Jilala
Recently, Moroccan artists have combined elements of Gwana with rock, funk, pop, and rap styles popular around the world. Funk especially took a hold in Morocco in the 60s-80s. Record labels like Habibi Funk are reissuing African psych funk albums that would’ve otherwise been forgotten or inaccessible. Habibi Funk was started by Jannis Sturtz, who digs through local record collections of Northern Africa for his label.
Funk segment:
Bsslama Hbibti // Fadoul
Had to Come Back Wet // Roger Fakhr
La Danse de Nadia // Elias Rahbani
Jawa Jawa // Akale Wube
Ahl Jedba // Fadoul
Soudani // Gnawa Systeme
Haditouni // Douaa
Aflana // Attarazat Addahabia
Attarazat Addahabia (see left) is often credited for bringing funk to Morocco. This band at its largest had 14 members, including 3 generations from the same family. They achieved enough local prominence to build their own venue before setting off on a tour that made them famous for “marathon shows:” sometimes as long as 12 hours!
Funk is still prominent in the modern music of Morocco, as well as other global music styles.
Modern segment:
Mon amour // De.Ville
Sawt nsaa // Soultana
Gnawa Beat // Bab L’Bluz
Halfa // Zina Daoudia
That’s all for Morocco! Tune in next week for Peruvian beats!