Morocco, Reggae, and Revolutionaries
By Sarah Tricha
What do Bob Marley, Abd El-Krim El-Khattabi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. have in common? Darga, a popular Moroccan music group.
I first listened to Darga as we drove to Chefchaouen. The song “El-Khattabi” played on the stereo while one of El-Khattabi’s grandsons’ drove the car. The song could have had an arrogant feeling in this context (Do you know who my grandfather was?!). However, the music was so good (reminding me the ska and reggae music I listened to as a teenager growing up in suburban Maryland), the scenery of the Rif mountains beautiful, the attitude of our guest so genuine, that the song inspired feelings that were exotic, removed, and oddly familiar. I could imagine El-Khattabi inspiring his tribe to stand strong as they navigated the Rif Mountains, the scene unfolding to the soundtrack of my adolescence.
When we got to Chefchaouen, I “bought” a copy of the Darga CD Stop Baraka from a music store near the Plaza al-Hamam. While I waited for my copy of the CD to burn, I watched the butcher in the next stall feed stray cats chicken heads, feet, and other miscellaneous pieces. He opened the small door to his stall so that the littlest of them could come inside and eat in safety. This gesture of generosity somehow became embedded in the music.
As a teenager going the tough task of growing up, I locked myself in my room and listened to the wisdom of Bob Marley. As a young adult, I reached out to Morocco, the country of my future husband. And as a woman and mother, I seek ways to consolidate the best of American and Moroccan culture for my daughter. I’ve found Moroccan music and art carry the shared messages of our cultures and the cultures beyond us.
In Rabat, I mingled with trendy youth, who listened to the classic Steel Pulse album True Democracy. I danced to Ziggy Marley at the Mawazine festival. I listened to things both strange and familiar and the audience listened with me; families, children, street kids, grandfathers, vendors, and police.
Back in the States, I loaded the Darga album onto my ipod and began to listen to the tracks in more detail. Track eight became my favorite. I had my husband translate the words for me. It is a song about the problem of racism. The last minute of so of the track includes inspiring words of Martin Luther King, Jr (Darga MP3 Clip). On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 19), one day before the inauguration of President Obama, I will reflect on how much we share across our cultures. I will dream and dance.
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February 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 am
It’s ok to have a comment.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Morocco has good musicians,, but why, oh why are they going near reggae? I’m in the music business and there is more than enough reggae from artists who have it as part of their cultural heritage. So a Moroccan singing/playing reggae hasn’t a chance for foreign exposure.
On the other hand, gnoua is good and has an international audience, but do young Moroccans want anything to do with it? No, it’s seen as old mens’ music, and the discipline necessary to play it properly (it is religious music, very involved with Sufi rituals) means that most young musicians can’t be bothered.
So why don’t these young and very creative musicians develop their own cultural traditions, instead of borrowing (not very well) reggae?
However, if you want to hear contemporary street Moroccan music at its best, search out the urban hip-hop and rap which is coming out of Rabat and Casablanca… as good as anything Europe or North America has produced. Of course, seeing as it’s sung in Daraja (Moroccan dialectical Arabic, or French, it won’t get a listen in the States or the UK, but that is the English speaking world’s loss.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:33 am
hi sarah,
how are you??
i try to search your e mail in the page, but i do not found it,
i hope that you read this massege…
well, i am a chilean industrial design student, and i want to go to morroco to study something relationated with fabrics designs maybe some clothes design and i am looking for institutes or universittis who give this career…
possibly maybe you can help me to decide about it…
maybe you know more about institutes than me…
or about where if i go to morroco… where can i study design…
i hope to do not be inapropiated or something…
but sometimes the way of the information is talk with the right people even if i do not know it.
thanks.
Nico.
*up side is my e mail.
el_nico_la_lleva@hotmail.com
i see that you have a flickr…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinico
May 11th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Hi Nico,
I don’t have any specific contact for places to study design in Morocco. But, I do have a few leads that I wrote about at:
http://moroccandesign.com/maison-du-artisan
http://moroccandesign.com/moroccos-first-higher-training-institute-for-traditional-crafts
http://moroccandesign.com/second-day-of-the-moroccan-business-forum
I posted your comment to the website. Hopefully someone will read it and share any contacts they may have.
Good luck!
Sarah
June 29th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Hsllo! I’m Nio,an Italian dj.i’ll be in Marocco in the next days and i’m looking for RAP and REGGAE music to make a mixtape.may you help me someways,please? ;-)
Thank you
Nio (Zero Plastica)
June 29th, 2009 at 4:19 am
hallo! I’m Nio,an Italian dj.i’ll be in Marocco in the next days and i’m looking for RAP and REGGAE music to make a mixtape.may you help me,please? ;-)
June 29th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Hmm. Not sure I’m the best person to ask, but hopefully someone will read this and more leave suggestions. I’ve got the song “tonton d’amerique” by Tiken Jah Fakoly on my ipod. I know there are some great Algerian musicians/rappers, but I can’t recall any specific names. Good luck! Enjoy Morocco.
April 12th, 2011 at 11:41 pm
Good day,
My name is Abdul Rabin, I am a reggae musician i write and sing. I am looking for a producer who will help me and produce my musics. I have recorded a lot of musics now and i think this is time to give this songs to every body in the world. i will send you a copy of my music so that you can access it and tell me what you think about it I don’t have much to say here but i will talk to you again when i get your reply
I will also want to know if you will help me to realize this. you can contact me using this email musiemmanuelmusi@yahoo.com
I will be waiting for your mail
Have a nice day
Abdul Rabin