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. 

Mustapha Baqbou - Inna Muluk El Hwa Style (or perhaps Bahjawa Style)

Here's a very nice and interesting cassette from the recently departed, much missed Mustapha Baqbou, and it's unlike any other album of his I've heard.

Maalem Baqbou left us a fair number of recordings - Discogs currently lists 10 albums under his name in addition to his appearances on anthologies and compilations such as the seminal Gnawa Music of Marrakech - Night Spirit Masters. In addition to a series of albums for Edition Hassania (Discogs lists 5 of these, though I would not trust the listed release dates), Baqbou recorded a number of one-off albums for other Moroccan cassette labels. We shared one of these, a fantastic release on Sawt al Haouz, several years ago. Today's tape is on the Fassiphone imprint (out of Fes, of course). It's a very enjoyable cassette, though I have a lot of questions:

• The ensemble on this cassette is that of the standard Ghiwani-style group: guinbri (bass lute), banjo (or perhaps bouzouk or other plucked steel stringed instrument), bendir buzzy frame drum, and tbilat (pair of small kettle drums). Normally this sort of group would record under the name of a group, not that of a single musician. 
• The two tracks on side B are straight versions of songs from the Gnawa ritual repertoire, and the lead vocalist on these tracks does sound like Baqbou. The tracks on side A, on the other hand, are in a more Ghiwani vein, or better, in a Muluk el Hwa vein. They are very much centered on the guinbri and use Gnawa or Gnawa-styled melodies, but with additional or alternate lyrics. 
• On first listen, I wondered whether this was actually a Baqbou album, as I did not hear his voice right away. On second listen, I did recognize his voice - he's not the vocal soloist on the first track, but I do hear him on the other three tracks. Not sure why I didn't recognize him at first - perhaps the recording is from early in his career, or perhaps the playback speed on my edition of the tape is faster than the original recording, or perhaps I'm just thick-headed.
• On track A1 "Al Hal", the solo singer does not sound to me like Baqbou, though Baqbou may be one of the choral responders. This track reminds me of Muluk el Hwa in its overall groove and production style.
• Track A2 "Menni Mennek" features a recited declamation at the beginning, like what is heard at the start of many Nass el Ghiwane or Jil Jilala tracks. This recitation is definitely NOT Baqbou, and the supporting banjo accompaniment is in a different key from that of the rest of the song. I'm guessing it was part of a separate recording of the song. The main body of the track sounds to me like Baqbou, possibly double-tracking vocals in unison in the group passages, and in call-and-response with himself in the second half of the song. Either that, or his musical collaborator sings very much like him.
• In the second half of "Menni Mennek", the melody and rhythm switch to that of the Gnawa song "Fofo Denba". Instead of singing the traditional refrain Fofo denba, Fofo denba ya Sidi, Baqbou here sings: Wa ya denya, hadi denya ya Sidi "Oh life, this is life". I am reminded of a track by Paco Abderrahmane "Ma Fik Khayr Ya Denya", which similarly uses "Fofo Denba" as the basis for the second half of the song. Paco sings Had denya, hara ou marra ya Sidi "This life is hot and bitter". We shared that album in the early days of Moroccan Tape Stash, and I have always attributed the use of lyrics about denya to this recording of Paco's. But since I don't know the dates of either the Paco cassette or the Baqbou cassette, it's possible that the substitution could originally be Baqbou's, or perhaps it was something floating around among Gnawa musicians that both of them brought to the studio independently.
• I wonder when this was recorded and released, and how it relates to Baqbou's work with other Ghiwani-style group formations. Biographical sketches of Mustapha Baqbou mention that he was a member of a Ghiwani-style group in the Netherlands in the mid-1970s called Tiq Maya, but I've found no audio clips of this group. His tenure with Jil Jilala ran from approximately 1985 through the late '90s or early 2000s.
• The artwork style of the j-card, with the psychedelic purple background looks to me like a release from the late 1990s or later, but I would date the photo of Mustapha and the sound of the recording to the 1980s. So I wonder if this is a reissue of a cassette that originally had different artwork.
• OH WAIT, I just re-stumbled across a pair of YouTube clips on the legendary Cafe Matich channel that purport to be of Mustapha Bakbou with Groupe Bahjawa in either 1975 or 1980. Both of these tracks are on the Fassiphone album I'm sharing today! The clips feature this enticing photograph of Baqbou and Bahjawa: 

• I have been sort of obsessed with the Marrakchi group Bahjawa for some time. I will eventually write something about them. There's not too much information about them online, but the longer I wait to write about them, more information and audio continues to trickle onto the internet, so hopefully I will piece together some audio and coherent information about this interesting group for you one of these days.
• At any rate, perhaps one question about this Fassiphone cassette is solved, and the group accompanying Mustapha Baqbou here is Groupe Bahjawa. I am in no way certain that this is the case - Cafe Matich could be wrong in attributing these recordings to Baqbou with Bahjawa. And the question remains why would this be released under Mustapha's name and not under Bahjawa's name.

I should have some more Baqbou for you in the not-too-distant future. Hope you enjoy this one for now!

Mustapha Baqbou مصطفى باقبو
Fassiphone cassette فاسيفون
A1 Al Hal الحال
A2 Menni Mennek مني منك
B1 Lâribi العربي
B2 Turku Lila ترك وليلة

FLAC | 320