Malika El Marrakechia | Malika El Marrakechia

When I was in Morocco a few years ago I picked up a couple of CDs by this woman, who, I guess because I kept seeing her merch everywhere, I just assumed was the hottest thing going in Marrakech at the time. This may or may not have been true, of course; what is true is that hers were my favorite CDs I found there. This one, especially.


I'm almost certain that this is an example of Moroccan chaabi, though Tim could correct me if I'm wrong. I'm also reasonably certain that you're going to love it.



Listen to the second track on this CD


Get it all here.

Hasna | Hasna

It's nothing new for Arabic pop artists to draw from a variety of other musics from around the world. But on her first album, released in 2004, Moroccan superstar Hasna manages to slap memes and cliches from Latin, Punjabi and elsewhere into solidly pop soundscapes to create frisson and fission, rather than bland, seamless fusion.This is, in my not-terribly-humble opinion, one of the most thrilling records to come out of the Arabic pop world in the last decade. I found this gem a week or so ago at the Nile Deli on Steinway Street in Astoria, just a few steps down from the legendary Kabob Cafe.

Get it all here.

Listen to"Inta Il Habeeb"

Fez City Clan | Fez City Clan

Listen to a fabulous track from this CD.
Grab it all here.

When I began collecting music from around the world in the 1990s, I could never have imagined that one day you'd be able to walk into a music store like Kim's or Other Music and find a solid row of rock music from around the world.

The same cannot yet be said for rap and hip-hop. There is so much out there, all over the world, that it seems likely that at some point some intrepid soul or souls will launch a label or two and begin a similar process for the genre.

There seem to be two kinds of non-American rap: That which attempts to sound in every way as close to contemporary American rap as possible; and that which creates a kind of fission (as opposed to fusion) between the source and host musics, the result of which is often exciting and genuinely new. Obviously, I'm far more interested in the latter.

Happily, that's what we have in the CD above, which I found in a music stall in Marrakeh's Jamaa el Fna.

Some day--perhaps some day soon--I'll put together a zip file of samples of rap and hip-hop from around the world that I've discovered over the last decade. Until then, enjoy the present disc!

Cheba Maria | Ould Bladi

Listen to "Casablanca"

Download the whole CD here.

Found at Princess Music in Bay Ridge on what was likely one of the last days they were open. A totally great find.

Cheba Maria was born and raised in Casablanca and moved to France in 1998, where she's now apparently a fairly big rai star. Rai is the ultimate hybrid pop, incorporating anything and everything into its wake. Well, okay, not everything. But, still.

A video: