This thesis delves into the Moroccan rap scene and contemporary Morocco’s social, political and economic context to examine the role of the state headed by the Makhzen (the Moroccan ruling elites) as main patrons of t... more abstractThis thesis delves into the Moroccan rap scene and contemporary Morocco’s social, political and economic context to examine the role of the state headed by the Makhzen (the Moroccan ruling elites) as main patrons of the arts in its attempt to use rap as a tool for social control. This project explores how, by promoting a ‘modern’ and liberal image of the country through patronage of selective rappers, the country’s elites have honed a particular vision of the nation. It also looks at how other civil society groups have capitalized on rap to fulfill their own political agendas. Though forces conspired to silence certain rappers, voices of dissent that oppose dominant narratives have also emerged. Moreover, this thesis reflects on the different signifiers used to gain an audience and popular support, and the relation of rappers with urban unprivileged youth and their feelings of exclusion. It goes on to provide a nuanced analysis of rappers use of language, urban spaces, national and international music genres. In its analysis, this thesis unravels the Moroccan rap scene both as a music production at the intersection of national and local cultural politics, as well as one influenced by global cultural flows. It also examines how rappers reimagine national identity and the politics of patriotic rap songs. By presenting the complexities of the rap scene, this thesis aims at challenging the representation of youth cultural production in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and Africa as simply a ‘protest’ culture. It looks beyond the binary where music is understood either as co-opted or dissenting and explores the politics of artistic creativity and music aesthetics. Analysis is supported by two years of fieldwork that expands on the dominant perception of rap music and youth in Morocco, the MENA region and Africa.

Critical Theory, Discourse Analysis, Cultural Studies, Music, Media and Cultural Studies, and 25 more

This paper presents a multilayered cultural field where Moroccan rappers contribute to the debate on the complex and varied meanings of local, national, and global aesthetics. It showcases myriad angles from which to ... more abstractThis paper presents a multilayered cultural field where Moroccan rappers contribute to the debate on the complex and varied meanings of local, national, and global aesthetics. It showcases myriad angles from which to consider the politics of aesthetics in rap music. Within the last decade, taqlidi rap (traditional rap) has emerged as a music concept that aims to combine Moroccan traditional music and instruments with contemporary genres as a way to broaden popular music. Rap beats inspired by Moroccan music genres like Gnawa or Andalusi aesthetically express different perceptions of national identity, thus allowing rappers to reshape the boundaries of perceived Moroccanness. Taqlidi rap, however, also plays into the agenda of the Makhzen's (the Moroccan ruling elite), which promotes Morocco as a ‘modern’ yet traditional, moderate yet diverse country. At the same time, taqlidi rap is able to respond to a main concern of Moroccan artists: to show national identity in their music production as a main identity marker within a global cultural flow such as rap. This paper unpacks the work of Fnaïre, a Moroccan rap group, and considers other groups from the country such as H-Kayne, Don Bigg, and younger rappers like Dizzy DROS, to examine the role of national identity in a contemporary music genre established in Morocco during the 1990s. It aims to show that a sole focus on the national cultural field may not provide a complete picture of the predominant presence of national identity in Moroccan rap, but also that overlooking the local and national specificities of Moroccan identity politics may result in a simplistic consideration of the field.

Cultural Studies, Music, Globalization, Youth Studies, Popular Music, and 12 more

Publication Date: Sep 12, 2015

Publication Name: The Journal of North African Studies

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... more abstractMoroccan 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 paper 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.

Cultural Studies, Music, Festivals and music, Middle East & North Africa, Popular Culture, and 7 more

More Info: Special Issue: Contemporary Moroccan Cultural Production: Between Dissent and Co-optation

Journal Name: Journal of African Cultural Studies

Publication Date: 2013

Cultural Studies, African Studies, Music, Ethnomusicology, Middle East & North Africa, and 11 more

Journal Name: AWRAQ Revista de análisis y pensamiento sobre el mundo árabe e islámico contemporáneo

Publication Date: 2014

Cultural Studies, African Studies, Music, Ethnomusicology, Middle East & North Africa, and 7 more

More Info: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference Sponsored by The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut

Publication Date: 2014

Publication Name: American University of Beirut Press

Following the diverse revolutions that encompassed the MENA region that came to be known as the ‘Arab Spring’, academia has enjoyed renewed interest in the cultures of resistance in the MENA and elsewhere. The effects... more abstractFollowing the diverse revolutions that encompassed the MENA region that came to be known as the ‘Arab Spring’, academia has enjoyed renewed interest in the cultures of resistance in the MENA and elsewhere. The effects of this changing focus have been extensive and have even contributed to the extending of the ‘cultural turn’ within the humanities and the social sciences. Now more than ever, scholars have turned their focus to cultural products and ‘civil society,’ conducting fascinating research that elucidates the societal contours of a given populace as well as how those contours are negotiated or redrawn by artists and intellectuals in times of exceptional flux. However, twenty five years after Lila Abu-Lughod published her seminal article, “the romance of resistance: tracing transformations of power through Bedouin women,” we must pay homage to the relative silence of observers as to how dissent is constituted, framed, and presented, in addition to those artists whose works are not often included in the Anglophone canon of political ‘resistance’ for having not satisfied the supposedly universal criteria of secularism and non-violence. As a result, homogenized narratives privileging a select few while excluding artists ostensibly less-palatable to western Anglophone academia, have begun to crystalize in historical texts. This panel will therefore explore music of resistance, interrogate it against political discourse in general, and drawing on in-depth field research, attempt to untangle the underlying processes, as well as the unfortunate results, of the recently renewed academic love affair with resistant culture.

Cultural Studies, Music, Media Studies, Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, and 3 more

Location: SOAS

More Info: Panel Discussion

Event Date: Mar 4, 2015

Conference Rationale: Studies of Asian, African and Middle Eastern cultures and literatures in the West have been predominantly framed by Eurocentric approaches that set the agenda for what to be studied and which ... more abstractConference Rationale: Studies of Asian, African and Middle Eastern cultures and literatures in the West have been predominantly framed by Eurocentric approaches that set the agenda for what to be studied and which methodologies to use. This conference challenges the dominant approaches that tend to homogenise those diverse literatures and cultures and gloss over the multi-dimensionality of their contexts of production and consumption. It seeks to go beyond the limitations or limits of Western theories, and proposes new methods that are closer to the multiple complexities of Asian, African and Middle Eastern milieus. The conference is structured around four main themes: Memory, myth, temporality, and the Nation Interpreting resistance: agency, alternative narratives and representations Beyond the ‘National Canon’ Non-Eurocentric definitions of the ‘aesthetic’ and the dynamics of South-South aesthetic exchange"

More Info: CCLPS Postgraduate Conference

Event Date: Jun 14, 2013

Organization: SOAS

Cultural Studies, Music, Youth Studies, Middle East Studies, Popular Culture, and 5 more

Location: LSE, London

Event Date: Jun 26, 2015

The emergence of hip hop culture in Morocco during the 90s sprang fears of “Western” cultural imperialism jeopardizing Moroccan identity. These accusations faded away shortly after the Casablanca terrorists’ attacks i... more abstractThe emergence of hip hop culture in Morocco during the 90s sprang fears of “Western” cultural imperialism jeopardizing Moroccan identity. These accusations faded away shortly after the Casablanca terrorists’ attacks in 2003 when the hype of rap music became instrumental in portraying Morocco as a moderate and modern country. During this time, rappers searched for strategies in which to evade accusations of dismantling Moroccan identity by employing sounds perceived to belong to the Moroccan tradition. An example of this phenomenon is the group Fnaïre and their taqlidi rap (traditional rap) that employs local music genres such as Andalus in creating rap beats. These sounds result in the acceptance of rappers and rap music within different sectors of the Moroccan society. However, aesthetics that feature local sounds are also suspect of pursuing a trouble-free commercial success capitalizing on the trendiness of “Morocco” as a brand. In this sense, this paper explores the branding of “Morocco” employing taqlidi sounds together with the criticisms it has triggered. In this way, it unravels the different aesthetics meanings in Moroccan rap combining the local, global and national identities and its political significance. On the one hand, this paper evidences the urge to engage with taqlidi sounds in order to gain local and national public space and acceptance. On the other hand, it argues that engaging with these sounds also allows rappers to easily gain symbolic and economic capital. In this manner, new aesthetics in Moroccan music are key in exposing a nuanced perception of national identity and the promotion of Morocco locally, nationally and globally.

Cultural Studies, Music, Middle East Studies, Africa, Resistance (Social), and 4 more

Location: London

Event Date: Mar 21, 2014

Organization: CCLPS, SOAS

The Moroccan rap scene was born during the 90s and with time it has become one of the most vibrant scenes on the MENA region. During this time, some rappers have been accused of having discourses that perpetuate the M... more abstractThe Moroccan rap scene was born during the 90s and with time it has become one of the most vibrant scenes on the MENA region. During this time, some rappers have been accused of having discourses that perpetuate the Makhzen’s interests. This paper argues that despite these accusations of co-option, rappers in Morocco have promoted the creation of solidarities among the youth creating awareness of the existence of rap and other rappers with diverse social and political discourses. In this way, it claims that examining popular culture through the prism of co-option versus resistance may result in silencing voices and closing public spaces for the youth to express themselves. Rappers, whether perceived as rebellious or co-opted, have actively contributed to creating new spaces in the public sphere such as music festivals or media. New generations can profit from the gained spaces, and create new discourses. In creating these spaces, they empower the youth who gain agency by having their own voice. Nonetheless, at the same time, the Makhzen has managed to gain control over these public spaces. Although it has allowed rappers to perform publicly contributing to the general political narrative of development in the country, it has limited their impact to peripheral spaces. Nonetheless, even within control, some rappers have used such spaces to challenge hegemonic discourses in their lyrics and to present alternative narratives to the nation’s social and political situation. In the middle of this battlefield, Moroccan youth has ultimately gained agency and power, providing their cohorts with new tools to gain self-expression and to awake society and media interest.

Cultural Studies, Music, Festivals and music, Popular Culture, Resistance (Social), and 3 more

Location: London

Event Date: Jun 14, 2013

Organization: CCLPS, SOAS

Conference Start Date: Jun 14, 2013

Cultural Studies, Music, Popular Culture, Morocco, and Hip-Hop/Rap

Location: London

Event Date: May 31, 2013

Organization: Gained in Translation, UCL Challenges

Cultural Studies, Youth Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Popular Culture, Africa, and 4 more

Location: Newcastle, UK

Event Date: May 17, 2013

Organization: Postcolonial Studies and the Public Sphere, University of Newcastle

Youth Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Identity (Culture), Urban Studies, and Hip-Hop/Rap

Location: Oxford, UK

Organization: National identities at the intersection: literature and visual media, XV Forum for Iberian Studies, University of Oxford

Conference End Date: Jun 22, 2012

Conference Start Date: Jun 20, 2012

Music, Media Studies, Resistance (Social), Social Media, Hip-Hop/Rap, and 2 more

Location: Rabat, Morocco

Event Date: Apr 21, 2012

Organization: Migration, Human Rights, and the Politics of Identity in a Globalized World, Université Mohammed V

Cultural Studies, Music, Middle East Studies, Africa, and Hip-Hop/Rap

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Organization: Shifting borders: America and the Middle East/North Africa, The Center for American Studies Research (CASAR), American University of Beirut

Conference End Date: Jan 14, 2012

Conference Start Date: Jan 11, 2012

Cultural Studies, Middle East Studies, Africa, Identity (Culture), Nationalism, and 2 more

Location: Algeciras, Spain

Event Date: Oct 14, 2011

Organization: Spanish Society for Arabic Studies (SEEA)

Cultural Studies, Music, Media Studies, Middle East Studies, Africa, and 2 more

Location: Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

Organization: RIdIM Conference & 1st Brazilian Conference on Music Iconography

Conference End Date: Jul 22, 2011

Conference Start Date: Jul 20, 2011