Raïs Lhaj Mohamed Demsiri

Another "finally!" moment for Moroccan Tape Stash. Sharing today some tracks from the legendary artist Raïs Lhaj Mohamed Demsiri (1936-1989). Born Mohamed Ajahud, known professionally as al-Demsiri or Albensir, Demsiri is generally held to be the most important figure in amarg souss in the 2nd half of the 20th century.  

Journalist and researcher Abdellah Bouchtart writes of the uniqueness of Demsiri's art:

"his poetry departed from the prescribed framework within which the rwais used to compose their poetry, and he went beyond the familiar in the meanings, themes, and issues that he addressed and dealt with. He was also distinguished by his method of treatment and performance, as he chose to be bold in presentation, harsh in criticism, generous in love poetry, profound in mysticism, precise in description, and a courageous fighter for burning social issues. However, what distinguishes Albensir most is his possession of the Amazigh consciousness, that cultural consciousness which made him dare to break the complex of fear that dominated the Amazigh, creators, poets, writers and politicians, and to speak about the “racial discrimination” that the Amazigh and the Amazigh language and culture suffered from before and after independence." [1]

Demsiri's career stretches back to at least 1963. His professional travels took him to various European countries and to Algeria [2]. Discogs currently lists around 20 albums on cassette, mostly on the Tichkaphone/Koutoubiaphone label. I would guess that some of these albums are collections of tracks originally published as 7" vinyl singles. Stroomer [2] estimated as of 1994 that between 80 and 100 cassettes of Demsiri could be found in the Moroccan markets, including both official releases and bootleg recordings. 

Among the bootleg recordings, I would think, are the songs that got Demsiri in trouble with the Moroccan authorities. These would include the song "Agourn" (Flour), which criticized the government's response to the 1981 bread riots, and "Timzgida" (The Mosque) criticizing the collection of mandatory contributions for the construction of the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca [3]. The former song got Demsiri arrested in 1981.

This out of print album is the only one I've found of Demisiri on CD. But you can find lots of his music on the various streaming platforms. 

Raïs Haj Mohamed Damciri الرايس الحاج محمد الدمسيري
Tichkhaphone TCK CD 07 تشكافون

1 Irabbi Lward إربي الورد
2 Awzanakh Yen Tebrat أورنخ يان تبرات
3 Awi Essalam أوي السلام
4 Bou Taxi بو الطاكسي
5 Our Nsamah Ibariz أور نسامح إلريز 

FLAC | 320 

Sources consulted:

[1] Abdellah Bouchtart عبدالله بوشطارت. [Amazigh culture in the songs of Rais Mohamed Albensir "Al-Damsiri"... A struggle in a time of fear] الأمازيغية في أغاني الرايس محمد ألبنسير "الدمسيري" .. نضال في زمن الخوف. Hespress, January 20, 2024. 

[2] H. Stroomer. "Damsīrī (ad-Damsiri)". in Encyclopédie berbère, 14. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud. pp. 2203–2204. 1994.

[3]  Noureddine Ekjan نورالدين إكجان. ["Raïs Albensir": The Amazigh Singing Legend Who Criticized Hassan II] الرايس ألبنسير".. أسطورة الغناء الأمازيغي الذي انتقد الحسن الثاني". Hespress, November 11, 2018.

More Ahwach Ntfrkhine - Bnat Ameln featuring Lahcen Ajmaâ

Happy October! Back after an unexpected break with another tape of ahwach ntfrkhine - the women's ahwach style that we featured in a post a few months ago. I picked this up in 2012, but if I'm reading the BMDA number correctly, this dates to 2008. Again, the rhythms are unbelievable!

A few observations:

• The cassette packaging indicates a primary artist and a featured artist. The spine reads "Ahwach Ntfrkhine - Bnat Ameln Group, Vol.2." The front of the j-card reads "with the participation of the accomplished artist Lahcen Ajmaâ." 
• As someone who has never attended an ahwach performance other than the abbreviated versions seen at the Marrakech Folklore festival, when I think of ahwach, I think primarily of a large group of singers, drummers, and dancers engaged in a communal endeavor. However, ahwach performances often begin with poetic recitation from one or multiple solo singers. Sometimes the poetry is pre-composed, sometimes it is composed on the spot to fit the occasion. And sometimes it goes on for a long time!
• Lahcen Ben Mohamed Ben El Houcine Lamdidi (b. 1949, known professionally as Lahcen Ajmaâ) is one of the most highly respected and talented singers and poets in the ahwach tradition. According to his biographical profile at tirfinet.com, he began his career working in traditional communal village performances. His career really took off in 1978 when he formed a working partnership with a another singer-poet, Ihya Boukdir (1949-2018). Notably and unusually, the duo Ihya and Ajmaâ learned the ahwach styles of various regions, expanding the breadth of their appeal and notoriety. Many, many recordings and videos exist of the two of them performing together.

• You can find loads of cassettes featuring either Ihya or Ajmaâ on this DailyMotion page. And there are a couple of what sound like field recordings for name your own price on Bandcamp here: https://ahwach.bandcamp.com/
• Here's a full poem about Corona virus authored by Ajmaâ during the early days of lockdown (in Tachelhit, translated into Arabic): https://www.pjd.ma/130335-68197.html
• Despite the absolute star status of Ajmaâ in the terrain of ahwach poetry and song, this remains a Bnat Ameln cassette. Ajmaâ appears only on first 2-1/2 minutes of A1, the first 4 minutes of B1, and throughout track B2, which is a dialogue between him and a female solo vocalist, ostensibly from the Bnat Ameln group. Interestingly, the cassette's tracks can be found online, but credited to Ajmaâ Lahcen, not to Bnat Ameln. 

 

• As mentioned in the previous post, the performance of ahwach ntfrkhine (girls' ahwach) typically features a group of women with their heads covered by one long cloth or by individual cloths. The j-card for this cassette pictures such a group, making it impossible to distinguish the members of the Bnat Ameln group. Since the days of this cassette, the Bnat Ameln group has continued working and producing music. Interestingly, the group's publicity photos and videos now prominently display its members' faces, particularly those of its leaders Safia and Keltoum.

 

Farqa Bnat Ameln [Groupe Bnat Ameln] فرقة بنات أملن
Bmsharkat Alfannan Almuqtadar [Featuring the talented artist] بمشاركة الفنان المقتدر
Lahcen Ajmaâ الحسن اجماع
Vol. 2
Ttamza Music cassette

A1 Adou Nouzalif اضو نوزليف
A2 Bismi Nakchamd بسم نکشمد
B1 Abouh Alikamt ابوه القامت
B2 Tazrart (Hiwar) تازرارت (حوار) 

FLAC | 320 

Sources consulted:

• Tirfinet. بروفايل الشاعر الكبير لحسن أجماع [Profile of the great poet Lahcen Ajmaâ]. February 6, 2026.
• Rachid Bijiguen. الفنان الأمازيغي إحيا بوقدير يرحل إلى دار البقاء [The Amazigh artist Ihya Bouqdir passes away]. Hespress, August 1, 2018. 
• Said Mekraz. أحواش "بنات أملن".. لوحة فنية بهية وفضاء لإبداع المرأة الأمازيغية [The "Bnat Ameln" Ahwach Troupe: A Splendid Artistic Tableau and a Space for Amazigh Women's Creativity]. 2M, August 8, 2026.

Raïs Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi - Straight Outta M'zouda + A Recent TikTok Controversy

Here's a 2011 cassette from the singer and composer Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi. Born in 1955 in the M'zouda region of Chichaoua province, Outaleb started an ahwach group with his cousin and other village kids, eventually graduating to work with older musicians. In the late 1970s, he began working in the Amarg Souss tradition (aka Tirruyssa, aka music of the rwayes). He soon relocated to Casablanca for more steady work, but has remained deeply connected to his native region. Biographical sketches note that he released the first recordings under his name in 1978 or 1979. Through the 1980s, in addition to leading his own group, he also worked for periods as a lotar player in the ensembles of other musicians, notably Raïsa Rkiya el Demsiria and Raïs Mohamed el Demsiri.

His time with Demsiri appears to have been pivotal. Demsiri is possibly the most revered singer and poet of the mid-to-late 20th century in the Amarg souss tradition, beloved (and once arrested) for his outspoken lyrics on many topics of social, political, cultural, and ethical issues. Several sources I consulted suggest that after Demsiri's death in 1989, Outaleb was the primary artist to continue working in Demsiri's vein.

Outaleb remains active today. In addition to continuing to producing new music, he maintains a robust presence on Facebook and YouTube. Follow this link to see photos of him in perormance last week in Taounghast.

UNFORESEEN SYNCHRONICITY IN THE STASH - THE CASSETTE ERA CLASHES AND/OR HARMONIZES WITH THE TIKTOK ERA

I've owned this Outaleb cassette as well a recently shared Fatima Tabaamrant tape since 2012, but did not post either of them here until this year. To my surprise, while searching for information about Outaleb, I stumbled across a recent controversy that touches on both of these artists. The controversy revolves around a young Moroccan Amazigh woman named Maryam Rachidi, who maintains a sizeable following on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Much of her content consists of clips of her lip syncing to recordings of songs in Tachelhit. 

Or at least this was the case until July 17 of this year, when she attended a performance by Fatima Tabaamrant at the Timizart (or Timizar?) Festival in Tiznit. Rachidi was filmed happily dancing during Tabaamrant's performance. 

After the performance, however, Rachidi reportedly met Tabaamrant and asked for a photo together. Tabaamrant declined and apparently expressed disapproval of Rachidi's unauthorized use of her music in TikTok clips and demanded that the clips be removed. Rachidi was filmed crying after the encounter.

 

The next day Rachidi returned to social media. She announced on Facebook that she would continue on social media (to pay the rent and help care for sick parents and siblings with special needs), but that she would stop creating content with music, though she will never forget how her followers loved it.

She also posted on Instagram a clip of herself deleting videos from TikTok.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maryam Rachidi (@maryam_rachidi17)

Enter Raïs Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi, who heard about Maryam's situation and posted on social media that he would like to be put into contact with her to help with her situation.

This led to him connecting with Maryam, including on a TikTok livestream a couple of days later. 

I can't follow the conversation in Tachelhit. From what I can piece together from this and from comments on various social media posts, it appears that Outaleb was upset to see a young Amazigh creator's life and work be upended, and was especially upset at the hateful and insulting tone of some commenters on social media (from defenders of Rachidi as well as those of Tabamrant). For these reasons, he was compelled to launch a campaign to raise funds for Rachidi and her family. Here's hoping there's been progress toward a happy ending, or at least a happy medium to this story. 

There may be legitimate copyright issues that Rachidi needs to address - I have no idea how that works with regard to TikTok, etc. One may doubt the value of short TikTok clips in the overall cultural sphere. But kudos to Raïs Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi for being a mensch and for not forgetting what it's like to be a young, struggling creative person, even if the media landscape is unrecognizable compared to when he (and many of us) were young.

Raiss Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi ⵔⵔⴰⵢⵙ ⵃⵎⴰⴷ ⵓⵟⵟⵍⴱ ⵍⵎⵣⵓⴹⵉ الرايش احمد أوطالب المزوضي
Adokan Dagh Ekraby Slamat أدوكان داغ إكربي سلامت
Mzouda casssette 24/06/2011 مزوضة
2011

A1 Adokan Dagh Ekraby Slamat أدوكان داغ إكربي سلامت
A2 Elys Ntmazyrt Eno إليس نتمازيرت إنو
B1 Aly3aon Attbryn أليعاون أتتبرين
B2 Mani Tkyt Aya Znkd ماني تكيت أيا زنكض 

FLAC | 320 

Sources Consulted:

• Program Bin Lbareh W Lyoum بين البارح و اليوم, episode "Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi". Producer: Mohamed Saudi محمد السعودي. SNRT, 2024. Also available on YouTube.
• "Raïs Ahmed Outaleb Lamzoudi". Post by blogger rwais on Biographie des Rways et Rayssates, September 22, 2011. 
• with help from ChatGPT to piece together information and discourses about the Maryam Rachidi incident and subsequent events.