Hip Hop in Morocco

The documentary I Love Hip Hop in Morocco followed a few Arab hip hop artists and rappers as they attempted to create and sponsor a hip hop festival in a culture where music, let alone hip hop is mostly frowned upon mostly due to the religious state of things. One of the rappers that easily surprised me was a female solo rapper by the name of Fatima. If I remember correctly, she was only 13 years old at the time of filming. What stood out the most to me about her was the fact that not only was she a girl, but the fact that her parents did not instruct her to act differently when she stated that she wanted to be a rapper. Her father originally wanted to be a musician when he was a child and his father was the one that convinced him otherwise because he would essentially be shaming his family. Females tend to be portrayed as aides to the family instead of artists in any way so when Fatima’s mother stated that she was supported by her parents because the decision she made was all by herself, I was blown away at the leniency they showed. To Fatima, music and hip hop are a way of expressing a sort of individualization. In her position, she is at a weak point because mostly men are the ones who are empowered and any women assuming authority or individuality are thought of to be a disgrace. I think it’s great how even through all of her social and religious trepidations, she decides that she still wishes to be a rapper.

Another artist that I was impressed with was DJ Key. Although he wasn’t a rapper technically, his skills and musical dedication far surpassed anything I could have imagined. To think of how very few Moroccan DJs there are and to imagine how he got his talent and passion without any guidance or teaching was astounding to say the least. It was really emotional how at one point in the movie, he had walked past a large corporate building and stated that his dream was to work on the fourth floor of it. His dream however could not be achieved if he were to continue DJ-ing and doing what he was passionate about and loved. Early on in the film, he constantly expressed how it was difficult to lead a normal, respectable life with having interest in music yet he still held through with it. It was also very interesting to see that he was the DJ at every date of the I Love Hip Hop in Morocco fest. I felt like that must have been a very monumental moment in his career and life.

A lot of the hip hop represented and shown in the documentary is very interesting to me. The standard form of hip hop in Morocco is a combination of American hip hop and traditional Moroccan music. The sounds and effects in each song were very new and different than I am used to hearing in rap and hip hop. I think the main reason this became the standard form of hip hop was to preserve the formalities that established the music of the country and culture in the first place while still adding the peculiar frame of American hip hop as many are used to. Many artists still choose to rap about the negative things in their lives because the music is what allows them to do so. One rapper claimed that the freedom of speech that we have is not a problem where they are, but rather the lack of money is the largest trepidation. Even as the festival is being arranged five days before the first date, money is extremely tight and the organizers are desperately trying to round up any sort of equipment possible to make sure everyone can perform. This becomes a huge topic in many lyrics that rappers write along with some rebellious conformity issues pertaining to the government and religion of the country and culture. Another interesting thing I noticed was that many lyricists did not put many cuss words in their songs, on the contrary from many popular American songs. It was not so much that they could not insert them into their songs, but rather these were the lifestyles that many were raised with and for centuries this was something that was not referenced to and thus the lack of swear words.

If the American Embassy were to extensively promote an event such as the I Love Hip Hop in Morocco festival, I think much of the United States would view them as wasting their money on trivial expenses. As discovered in Reel Bad Arabs, many Americans assume that any Arab or Arab country is one of danger and threat so if one were to hear that money was being spent on a music festival, then the general populace of the payer would probably be appalled. At one point during the first festival date, the crowd had started to riot for the group H-Kayne; they refused to settle down and allow the opening acts perform and thus the main group had to perform early to get the audience to calm down. If this happened at every festival date and location, the reaction from the Americans and the American Embassy would be even more negative than if they were to simply discover that this was being endorsed. However, the crowd at every venue was easily entertained and seemed to love every second of the concerts. If this happened consistently, then the connections between the Arab and Islamic worlds and the American cultures could be strengthened and vastly improved.