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.
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
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.
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