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Abstract
Moroccan youth were amongst the first in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region to build a rap scene. As this scene has grown and evolved, so has its relationship with the Makhzen, that is, the Moroccan ruling elite. Recently, some Moroccan rappers have even been accused of co-option and of being puppets of the Makhzen. This analysis considers the complexities of the rappers' role in Morocco. It argues that these young people's actions can be understood in ways that challenge the essentialized ways of viewing African and Middle Eastern youth as constantly living in social, political, and cultural turmoil. The article analyses the Moroccan rap scene as an arena in which rappers have constructed shared social and cultural spaces, and in which youth is able to gain agency and power, thereby expressing their own individual ideologies through their art.
ملخص البحث كان الشباب المغربي من بين الأوائل في بناء مشهد موسيقى الراب في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا. وكما نما هذا المشهد وتطور، كذلك نمت علاقته بالمخزن . مع مرور الوقت، اتهم بعض مغني الراب بالاستمالة وبكونهم دمى في يد المخزن . ومع ذلك، هذه الاتهامات غالبا ما تتجاهل دور مغني الراب في فتح الفضاءات العامة التي يمكن للشباب أن يكون لهم صوت من خلالها. مغنو الراب، بصرف النظر عن سياساتهم، نجحو في تمكين أواصر التضامن في الساحة الموسيقية المغربية. تدعي هذه الورقة أن دراسة الثقافة الشعبية من خلال منظور الاستمالة مقابل المقاومة، ورؤية مغني الراب فقط كعوامل سياسية قد يؤدي إلى تفاهمات تتجاهل مساهماتهم الفنية والاجتماعية الهامة للمشهد الموسيقي الشبابي الحيوي في المغرب . ويرى هذا التحليل دور مغني الراب في المغرب ما وراء الفكرة المختزلة التي تعتبرالشباب الأفريقي والشرق أوسطي بأنه يعيش باستمرار في حالة اضطراب اجتماعية وسياسية وثقافية. وهي تسعى إلى التفكير في مشهد موسيقى الراب في المغرب باعتباره المساحة الاجتماعية والثقافية المشتركة التي شيدها مغنو الراب والتي من خلالها أصبح الشباب قادرا على كسب القوة والسلطة، والتعبير عن الإيديولوجيات الفردية الخاصة بهم .
كلمات البحث
ثقافة الشباب، nonmovement, راب المغربي، الهيب هوب المغربي
Notes
The term ‘Moroccan Movida’ was borrowed from the Movida Madrileña. This cultural movement that emerged in Spain after the death of Franco (1975) and the transformation of the Spanish constitution (1978) resulted in groups of people gathering in Madrid, wishing to express themselves freely through different art forms. Nevertheless, this name has been abandoned due to the fact that this period has not brought democracy to Morocco – which is therefore unlike Spain in this regard.
The term Makhzen is used in Morocco to refer to the political and economic ruling elite that provide the administrative structure, legal framework, and military manpower to increase the Moroccan monarchy's authority (Maghraoui Citation2001, 12; Daadaoui Citation2011, 46).
Islam and Arabic terms have been part of hip hop since the early 1970s, as they are also related to the American racial discourse (Aidi 2009; Citation2011) with, for example, the conversion to Islam of civil rights movement leader Malcom X or the creation of Nation of Islam.
All translations from French and Darija are by the author unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all transcriptions used in this article follow the alphanumeric Latinized Arabic widely used in Arab countries by youth (Aboelezz Citation2012, 48) and also particularly in Morocco by scholars working on Darija and Moroccan youth such as Dominique Caubet (Caubet and Miller 2012). The combination of numbers and letters facilitates the adaptation to regional specificities of the language. Using numbers for non-existent consonants in English allows words to resemble their local sound (Aboelezz Citation2012, 50). Although this transcription is meant for online communication, there is increasing evidence that this is no longer the case. Aboelezz (Citation2012) also provides evidence of handwritten texts using this transcription in Cairo and in Egyptian magazines. In particular, Moroccan rappers often use the alphanumeric characters to write their names such as L3arbe from Zan9a Flow. In Morocco, it is also used in advertisements (See fore example, the following ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHQMhgo6siU&feature=c4-overview&list=UUGGLDzycFH8T_joeZBxgSHA. This use attempts to engage with a system created and understood by Arab-speaking youth around the world.
These include the Wilaya du Grand Casablanca, Ville de Casablanca, Région du Grand Casablanca and the Conseil Préfectoral de Casablanca.
http://www.maroccultures.ma/association-maroc-cultures/presentation.html (accessed 22 January 2013).
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=355068621241556&set=pb.101060159975738.-2207520000.1358852113&type=3&theater (accessed 22 January 2013).
Darija is frequently described as ‘Moroccan Arabic’, however, and following an editorial on TelQuel by Ahmed R. Benchemsi, it is simply Moroccan (quoted in Caubet Citation2005, 233–234). Even if the majority of words in Darija come from Arabic, it also contains words from diverse origins including Berber, French, and Spanish, all of them composing a common language with its own variants in Morocco.
Azziz Akhannouch is the current Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and president of the Concert pour la Tolérance association (http://www.agriculture.gov.ma/pages/le-ministre (accessed 22 January 2013)).
A fanzine is a magazine produced by fans normally with no financial compensation and circulated free of charge.
http://lead-hangar.com/2012/06/04/des-armes-corruption-et-abus-de-pouvoir-de-mawazine-sont-soupconnees-avoir-tire-sur-lboulevard-et-dautres-evenements/ (accessed 10 July 2012).
http://www.aujourdhui.ma/maroc-actualite/culture-medias/la-cinquieme-edition-du-festival-mawazine-rythmes-du-monde-s-est-cloturee-le-mercredi-24-mai-a-rabat.-les-habitues-de-ce-festival-ont-livre-leur-verdict.-un-bilan-mitige.-41816.html (accessed 21 January 2013); http://www.telquel-online.com/En-couverture/Mawazine-un-miracle-royal/425 (accessed 22 January 2013); http://lead-hangar.com/2012/06/04/des-armes-corruption-et-abus-de-pouvoir-de-mawazine-sont-soupconnees-avoir-tire-sur-lboulevard-et-dautres-evenements/ (accessed 10 July 2012).
However, according to the artistic director of Mawazine in 2011, the largest part of their budget comes from selling tickets, festival passes, and television licences (Ismaili 2011).
http://www.lemag.ma/Boycott-publicitaire-Nichane-disparait-TelQuel-craint-le-meme-sort_a43939.html (accessed 24 June 2013); http://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/3366/nichane-victime-d-un-crime-publicitaire.html (accessed 24 June 2013).
‘Dans ce qui a déjà été fait, il y a parfois des trucs intéressants, mais c'est souvent romancé, commercial. Le concept même de « nayda » est plus lié à un phénomène de mode. Alors que ce n'est pas que ça.’
‘J'avais compris jamais exactement ce que ça signifie’ (Interview with the author, 2 November 2011).
The name of the group means in Darija ‘What's up?’ Their song ‘Issawa Style’ and its video clip combines hip hop style with elements of the Issawa or Aissawa Sufi Brotherhood, which uses their own music to bring their members to trance. In the video clip, the crew dress in traditional Moroccan attire in certain scenes where an Issawa band is playing in the background, while combining hip hop outfits in other scenes.
‘lkoula mgharba, h-kayne britem issawi jadba, raha nayda nouda, nhablouha nouda.’
‘nagma o style, 7ma9 hbile, bda tharak, matab9ach galas, skot fham mazyan.’
‘il n'y a jamais eu de Nayda chez nous.’
This was a period of time characterized by an extreme repression that started in the 1970s after Hassan II suffered two coups d’état until the mid-1990s (Bennani-Chraïbi and Jeghllaly Citation2012, 871).
Other Moroccan artists that participated in that year's edition of Mawazine also received this cheque. (http://www.aujourdhui.ma/maroc-actualite/culture-medias/l-association-eac-l-boulvart-a-recu-un-don-royal-d-un-montant-de-deux-millions-de-dirhams-lundi-15-juin-a-rabat.-ce-don-permettra-a-l-association-de-depasser-ses-difficultes-financieres-et-de-se-consacrer-pleinement-a-ses-projets-en-cours.-64622.html (accessed 22 January 2013)).
Interviewed by author, Meknes, 2 July 2011.
http://www.hibapress.com/details-31453.html or http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/68/26/88/PDF/texte_FINAL_CHANSON.pdf.
Interviewed by the author, 11 January 2013.
Although there are countless examples of these collaborations, because of the space limitations of this article I only focus on the case studies discussed here.
‘Radyine men zan9a lzan9a; Police taba3na da99a da99a; Hip hop style ma7tote fwar9a; Ya cha3b fham, rrap poéme wda99a; Flmocrophone, na7ki lwa9i3 wddanya ba9a.’
An ego trip – as opposed to so-called engagé or à thème songs, which are those that involve a social and political critique – focuses on exploiting the rappers' ego. However, not all of these songs are ego trips, for example, one of the most popular songs on Don Bigg's album is ‘Bladi Blad’ (My Country is a Country), featured by Colonel, a rapper from Rabat. In this song, both rappers engage in denouncing social inequalities, power relations, and political corruption in Morocco.
‘7naya khout s7ab.’
‘lMaghreb koulu family.’
‘Drari jaiba l3az mn Tanja lCasa, mn Casa lTanja.’
‘Jina frap nta7du machi ntfertku.’
‘3tetoni jn7in w 9oltoli mat7lemchi terr.’
‘mabghitch sawti yb9a ghe sda f l9a3 del ber.’
‘bladi teb9a bladi wakha 7a9 fiha daya3.’.
‘bladek ya3ni dialek wakha ghir katrassma.’
‘ida bghiti 3ich ma7gour wida bghiti hoz sif.’
If we consider Facebook official fanpages, Muslim has over 470,000 likes, Don Bigg 173,000, and H-Kayne 33,000.
Although the documentary is mainly set in Casablanca, rappers H-Kayne from Meknes or Fnaïre from Marrakech appear but not Muslim or rappers from the north of Morocco.
In a series of episodes Al-Jazeera recorded on Moroccan music called ‘Next Music Station’ (2011), Tangiers and northern Morocco were included. However, when discussing music in the city of Meknes, the H-Kayne group was interviewed, but neither Muslim nor the rap scene in Tangiers was mentioned and the focus was solely on traditional music. Although the north is not marginalized here, the importance of Muslim within the rap scene is downplayed in favour of H-Kayne who is considered less politically powerful.
http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/469/mage_culture_469.shtml; http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/462/mage_culture_462.shtml (accessed 22 January 2013); http://www.telquel-online.com/Culture/News/Rap-Chanter-clipper-secouer/542%20%20.
The north of Morocco has been largely marginalized for historical reasons that cannot be fully explored in this article (see for example, Pargeter Citation2009, 1037).
Harragas are the clandestine migrants that cross the Gibraltar Straight via the north of Morocco to reach Europe.
Normally, although freestyles are not improvised songs, but songs without a strict structure and often without chorus, they do not have a title.
‘Ana machi 20 Febrayer, ana l3am kamel’, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI4PPpJKn1I.