Aïta Mon Amour - Morocco/Tunisia/France

In 2001, a young Widad Mjama stepped into the spotlight as Morocco's first female rapper in the totally male-dominated underground scene of Casablanca. She eventually went to study in France and immersed herself in the African music scene. In 2014, she formed the internationally successful French-Moroccan hip-hop band N3rdistan.

In her latest project, 'Aïta mon amour', she performs with Khalil Epi, electronic musician and expert at playing the loutar, she delves deeper into her fascination with the sheikhats, the strong and powerful 'rebel' singers of the Moroccan Aïta.

Aïta is a musical form of expression that originated centuries ago in the countryside and expresses pain, joy and, above all, love. The singers were popular but also had a low social status, as the women travelled with men as well as smoked and drank. Today, Aïta is considerded important and still has a big social role. For women, it is an expression of freedom, and young generations are inspired by it, such as singer Widad Mjama.
She wants to bring this typically Moroccan poetic musical form out of oblivion and make it sound contemporary and digital.

Widad Mjama, vocals
Khalil Epi, electronics, loutar