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. 

Fatima Tabaamrant - Finally!

 

It's about time we got around to posting about La Tabaamrant! Fatima Tabaamrant (b. 1962) is a powerhouse singer, songwriter, and activist for Amazigh and women's rights. In addition to being a pivotal figure in Soussi music, she served as a representative in the Moroccan parliament from 2011-2016, where she became the first person to ever pose a question in the Amazigh language. 

After a troubled childhood and early marriage, Tabaamrant turned to poetry and music as a mode of expression. (Her early life is dramatized in the 1994 film Tihiya, in which she stars.) She spent time working in the troupes of several different rwais (Rais Jami’ Al-Hamidi, Said Ashtouk, Moulay Mohamed Belfaqih, and Mohamed Demsiri) before ultimately striking out on her own in the early 1990s. She was not the first female artist to lead her own troupe in the field of Soussi amarg poetry and song: Rqiya Demsiriya and Fatima Tihihit were two notable predecessors. Tabaamrant, however, distinguished herself by not only singing and leading her own troupe but also composing her own poetry. 

 

Her work has addressed many themes and issues over the years, primarily connected to and in support of Amazigh identity. These include: marginalization, Amazigh culture, land, language and traditions, women's rights, education and parenting, rural vs urban life, history and religion, love and marriage and contemporary topical issues. (She released a song in 1998 mourning Kabyle singer/songwriter Matoub Lounes, who was assassinated in Algeria that year.)

I picked up this cassette in 2012, I believe in Rabat. (Tabaamrant's YouTube channel dates it to 2000.) I don't speak Tachelhit, so I don't know what these songs are about. The main musical style here is a sort of tagroupit augmented with ahwach sounds. On first listen, I thought it was the typical tagroupit electric guitar plus banjo or bouzouki. On second listen, I think it's actually 2 electric guitars: one plucky twangy one and a second warm/fluid one. Additionally, all tracks feature drum accents and punctuations typical of ahwach performance, and the final track adds flutes and clapping to the mix for a big ahwach finale. For fans of quintuple meter (like me), the title track (Track 2) is 14 and a half minutes of fivey goodness!

Fatima Tabaamrant continues to produce new music consistently, incorporating different musical configurations as times change, but always anchored in her poetry and vocal delivery. Follow her on Instagram and/or Facebook, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, where she dropped this new track AN HOUR AGO:

Fatima Tabaamrant  فاطمة تبعمرانت
Nekkay Igan Anafal نكى أيڭان أنفال
Afraou Cassette 295 افواو كاسيط

 

A1 Tezwit Rzmed Ousafar تزويت رزمد أسفار
A2 Nekkay Igan Anafal نكى أيڭان أنفال
B1 Ikhfnouhan Ikhfinou أيخفنوهان إخفنو
B2 Alalla Noumad Oufigh أللانوماد أفيغ

FLAC | 320

 

SOURCES CONSULTED:

• Femmes du Maroc (FDM).  "Fatima Tabaamrant: 'c’est le public qui donne le ton à mes concerts'". 2022-07-16. https://femmesdumaroc.com/archives/fatima-tabaamrant-cest-le-public-qui-donne-le-ton-a-mes-concerts
• Hawamich. "فاطمة تبعمرانت.. من طفولة قاسية إلى صوت للهوية الأمازيغية [Fatima Tabaamarant.. From a cruel childhood to a voice for Amazigh identity]". 2025-09-22. https://hawamich.info/10504/
• Oudadene, Hassane. "Rwāys and Tirruyssā: A Symbolic Site of Amazigh Identity and Memory." Jadaliyya, Nov 1, 2021. https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/43446
• Talmenssour, Abdelâali. "Rraysa Fatima Tabaâmrant: Figure emblématique de la chanson amazighe traditionnelle du Sud marocain", Moenia, 20 (2014), 215-230. https://hispadoc.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7541628

More Mileage From Raiss Hmad Amentague

Here's another cassette of amarg souss from Raiss Hmad Amentague. Unlike the cassette we shared last week, this one does not sound like it has been sourced from a vinyl recording. 

From what I could gather from online sources, Raiss Hmad Amentague excelled in his adherence to poetic meter, and love poetry was his specialty. However, like other rwayes, his themes also ran to the social and topical. "Qsidat L'Essence" (The Gasoline Poem) would appear to be an example of this. I don't understand Tachelhit, but I did recognize a bunch of automobile-related words in the song that are also found in darija (Moroccan Arabic), which anyway mainly came from French. Then again, there are plenty of songs around the world where cars and driving are metaphors for something else, so this could be a love poem after all...

Raiss Lhaj Hmad Amentague الرَّايَس الحَاج احْمَاد أمَنْتَاݣ
Min Rawaiî Raiss Lhaj Hmad Amentague  مِن رَوائِع الرَّايَس الحَاج احْمَاد أمَنْتَاݣ
[From the Masterpieces of Raiss Lhaj Hmad Amentague]
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 701 تشكافون

A1 Yaouzou Lward  يَاوْزو الوَرد
A2 Rwah Darnkh ْرْواحْ دَارْنْخ
B1 Qsidat L'Essence ْقَصيدَة لِصَانْص
B2 Arabbi Ljannat Rzmd Amawan أَرَبِّي الْجَنَّةْ ررْمدْ أَمَاوَنْ

FLAC | 320

Raiss Hmad Amentague - Bisma Nksham Dakh Salqasariya

Here's a nice collection of sides from the rrbab player, singer, and composer Raiss Hmad Amentague (1927-2015). Amentag learned the craft of the Soussi rwais in the traditional way - backing up masters as they traveled from town to town performing. The most comprehensive biographical note I found on Amentag is in this post on the YouTube channel of Amarg Amazigh.

Amentag's recording career stretches back to shellac records beginning in 1953. From the sound of it, this cassette appears to be a compilation of recordings originally issued on vinyl.

Amentag was feted by artists, scholars, and an appreciative live audience in an episode of the Moroccan TV program Masar in 2010. He also performed a song with support from Rais Aboubker:

And here is a fantastic live performance from 1996 highlighting Amentag's rrbab and singing:

Raiss Hmad Amentague الرّايس احماد امنتاݣ
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 604 تشكافون

A1 Bisma Nksham Dakh Salqasariya بسم نكْشَمْ دَاخ سَلقَاسَريَّة
A2 Aya Sayyad Ikhtamdit Ioudad أَيا صَيّاد إِخْتَمْديتْ إِوْدَادٌ
B1 Addarsat Iytbirn ْالدَّرْسَتْ إيتْبِرْن
B2 Mrahba Tayamouzounayn مرَحْبَا تَيَمُوزُونَينْ
B3 Mrahba Iyouyad Aghras Lhbab ْمْرَحْبَا إِيويَّد أغْرَاسْ الْحْبَاب 

FLAC | 320

Fatima Tamrrakchit

This tape comes to us from... well, down the street in El Cerrito, California, where I found and purchased it! This is a swell album from singer Fatima Tamrrakchit. The texture on every song is a bit different - there's always some combination of the typical Soussi amarg ensemble (rrbab fiddle, lotar lute or banjo) with additional instruments (electric guitar, a violin, maybe that was a sythn banjo, and some sort of bass instrument - it's a bit deep in the mix (which is fine), it could be a keyboard, or it might be a big Gnawa guinbri). The percussionists keep things lively and at times wild.

I found very little information about Fatima Tamrrakchit online. From what I gather from YouTube and TikTok comment, she died at a young age in April 1998.

There is another singer with the same name who is currently active but who should not be confused with the first Fatima Tamrrakchit.

Digital Mastering Note: I used the new "Mastering Assistant" that was released in the latest update of Logic Pro X. Part of the tool is an AI-driven analysis that can produce a custom EQ for whatever you're working on. Sort of freaks me out, but it's also kind of amazing. I used it here, and I think it sounds pretty good. You can find all of these tracks on YouTube, if you don't like this. (The YouTube clips are probably from a better source than my tape here anyway, but y'all come here for a bit of that analog patina, right?)

Hope you and your loved ones are well. Praying for a just peace.

Fatima Tamrrakchit فاطمة تمراكشيت
تهراركتف
Production Disco cassette PD47

A1 Takat Ah Igh Trgha Dora
A2 Dounit Ra Tzri
B1 Or Sarn Orrigh Lhob

B2 Awino Samhiyi Samhaghak
B3 Lhem Ortn Sol Nra

FLAC | 320

 

Âita With Guinbri Really Shouldn't Work, But Tagada...

Well whaddya know? The Stash yields another Tagada tape! This dates from around 1992, when Mohamed Louz was still a member of the group. (For some historical info on the group, see our previous Tagada post.)

I wrote previously that Tagada's folk-revival approach was rooted in the âita. This album stretches things a bit, while maintaining a core texture of viola driving the melody, male group or antiphonal vocals and a bendir-driven percussion section.

"Lalla Lgada" leads things off in a typical âita mode, though with what sounds like scissors hearkening back to the âbidat errma. The strange "Ach Ngoul Lik" leads off with a pentatonic viola solo somewhat evoking the amarg tradition of the Soussi rwayes, but then the rhythm enters, featuring a Gnawa guinbri (and some faint qraqeb, I think). It sounds sort of Nass el Ghiwan-ish, except for the continued presence of the viola, which pulls the sound in a different direction. "Âyyitini" goes full Soussi, adding a banjo or lotar and naqqus for that rwayes vibe, though the singing is in Arabic, not Tachelhit.

Finally "Hada Hali" returns viola and bendir to the center of the texture with a real deep âita feel - angular bendir-s, alternating solo vocals evoking shikha song, sliding eventually into trance-based and trance-evoking lyrics, idiomatic viola riffing recalling the sweaty middle-of-the-night when the âita groove gets so heavy and REAL that it crosses over into that zone where all one can do is call prayers upon the Prophet and the saints, hope for deliverance and submit to the groove. At this point in the song, Tagada incorporate the guinbri and qraqeb again. This sounds nothing like Gnawa music, though, resembling much more the saken trance songs of the âita tradition. But with Gnawa signifiers added for intensification? Mixing these elements together is a weird, improbable idea, to which I'm sort of opposed on principle, and yet somehow... it kind of works! Well played, Tagada, well played!



Tagada (تگدة) Edition Hassania cassette EH 1462
01 Lalla Lgada (لالة الگادة)
02 Ach Ngoul Lik (اش نگول ليك)
03 Âyyitini (عيتني)
04 Hada Hali (هذا حالي)

Get it all here.

Mohamed Amrrakchi - Amarg Fusion, 90s style

Here's a well-loved cassette from my first trip to Marrakech in 1992. The j-card went missing years ago, but I did manage to scribble "Mohamed Marrakchi" on the box. Preliminary googling only resulted in references to an Arabic singer in Fessi chaabi style:

This was a far cry from the Soussi Berber rrbab-driven sounds on my old tape. Some additional googling turned up a better result, using the more Berber-ish spelling "Amrrakchi":

Blogger Ourchifali, who has several posts including lyrics of Mohamed Amrrakchi as well as this great photo here tags these posts with the term "Amarg Fusion". While nowhere near as fusion-y as music from the 2000s by the actual group Amarg Fusion, the electric guitar and drum kit do give the music a bit of what, at the time, was a modern edge. I love the punchy sound added by the kit and guitar. To my ear, they complement rather than undercut the banjo and rrbab. And the melodies are insidiously catchy. Here's some video footage of Amrrakchi with this sort of ensemble:



Mohammed Amrrakchi appears to be the brother of the more well-known Houcine Amrrakchi, who was featured some time ago over at the defunct-but-not-forgotten Snap Crackle and Pop blog.

Mohamed Amrrakchi - Sawt al Ahbab cassette (1992)
Track 1 (of 6) 


Get 'em all here.

Raïs Aberrahmane Aznkd

More goodies from the Nathan Salsburg stash. I can find no information whatsoever online about this smiling, right-handed, lotar-wielding musician. The closest I found was a number of links to a seemingly younger Mohamed Aznkd, who is a left-handed, banjo-wielding musician.

There is some rapid-fire lotar picking going on here!


Al Raïs Abderrahmane Aznkd (Sawt el Andalous cassette S.A. 05)
1) Madrigh Asmoun
2) Arja f-Llah Arnaala
3) Aralaagh Aryaala
4) Gaaraa Hbib Allah
5) Allah Yâawen Nslemdyoun
6) Ajdaâ Igaan Oumleel
7) A Rabi

Get it all here.

3 Rwayes 3: Demsiria / Ihihi / Atigui

It's Easter Sunday here in Northern California, and we've got some much-needed rain!

Here's another swell tape from Nathan Salsburg's collection. The first rwayes supergroup? According to the author of this post, "Moulay Hmad Ihihi had the idea of putting out the first album combining a number of singers." This album, dating from 1981, features these three rwayes:

• Raïssa Rkia Demsiria (الرايسة رقية الدمسيرية) who was already well known by this time, having had her first hit in 1968 with "A Taxi Ghilla Radio"
• Raïs Moulay Hmad Ihihi (مولاي أحمد احيحي) - veteran singer, composer and player of the lotar (not the big pear-shaped, low-pitched lotar used by Middle Atlas musicians like Rouicha, but the round-bodied, high-pitched lotar used by Soussi musicians.
• Raïs Aârab Atigui (الرايس أعراب اتيكي), singer and rrbab player for whom this cassette was his first (and some say finest) release.

Memorable melodies and traditional textures make this a lovely addition to the stash. I'm not sure whether the lead vocals on tracks 3, 5, and 6 are by Ihihi or Atigui - any help would be appreciated!

Demsiria - Moulay Hmad - Aârab (Edition Hassania EH 1167) (1981)
1) Ark Tella Tarikta (vocal Raïssa Rkia Demsiria)
2) Afis Aygigel (vocal Raïs Aârab Atigui)
3) ???
4) Mata z-Zmanad (vocal Raïssa Rkia Demsiria)
5) Taghaous Aidba Bens
6) Arniyat Isella Lhem

Get it all here.

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd was the first nationally renowned Chleuh (Soussi Berber) poet and musician. Since his death nearly 70 years ago, his compositions have constantly remained in the repertoire of the rwaïs. Here's a cassette compilation of some of his recordings, released originally on 78RPM records.

The photo on the j-card appears in the 1933 book Corpus de Musique Marocaine: Fascicule II - Musique et danses berbere du Pays Chleuh by Chottin. The full photo is a favorite of mine:

"The raïs Belaïd improvises a poem. In front of him, on the ground, his compositions are scattered. Behind him, a dancer, standing, holds a book full of other poems."

Here is some info on his life and work, translated from Mohamed Ameskane's Chansons Maghréines:

"Emblematic and essential figure of the Amazigh amarg [art song tradition], Haj Belaïd is to Moroccan Berber song what Mohamed Abdelwahab is to Arabic song. His timeless refrains have been reprised, since the thirties, by generations of Rwayes such as Rkia Damsiria, Amentag, Amouri Mbarek, by the groups Izenzaren, Ousman, Oudaden, not to mention the new scene with, among others, Amarg Fusion.

"His recordings, the documents of his fabulous destiny, and his photos are very rare. The troubadour of the Souss was born in the 19th century, between 1870 and 1875, at Anou n Adou, in the area of Tiznit. Coming from a modest family, he lost his father at an early age. Soon he would leave Koranic school, where his mother had enrolled him, to earn a crust of bread and to help his brothers. As a shepherd, he traveled the areas of Ida Obaâkil and Anzi, accompanied by his inseparable flute.

"He recounts that he dilligently frequented the Mellah of Tahala, in the Tafraoute region, where he learned music among the Judeo-Berber community of that place. The intervention of the Cheikh R'ma of Tazeroualt, the Cherif Sidi Mohamed Ousaleh, was decisive in his life and career. Haj Belaid joined his band as a flutist, was introduced to the l’outar and the ribab. Thereafter, he started his own company with Mohamed Rais Boudrâa Tazeroualti, Moulay Ali Souiri and Mbarek Boulahcen. In their company, he roamed the country like the medieval troubadours, performing for great political, religious, and business personalities. Much appreciated, his passages were run. His themes, his incomparable ribab playing, and his bewitching voice made women cry and lulled generations of music lovers.

"An author, improvising his refrains, a songwriter and performer, Haj Belaid sang on a number of themes. In "Fars", "Tadouat d’lklam", "Ribab", "Ouar laman", "Igh Istara Oudar", and "Ika isbar yan", he evokes his suffering with poetry, wandering and traveling. In “L’jouhr", "Ajdig nimi n'trga", "Adbib", "Talb," "Atbir oumlil “, it is courtly love. Feminine beauty is celebrated in very modest terms and subtle metaphors. With "Ch'rab” and “Taroudant" social criticism is put forward. Haj Belaid also played an undeniable role as a historian of everyday life, in recording events that shook the region and the innovations introduced by Western civilization, in the songs “L’makina ousatiam","Tiznit Oulbacha", and "Chifour outoumoubil." Haj Belaid also leaves us anthology pieces about his travels such as "Amoudou L’hij", describing his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1910, “Amoudou n'taliouine" visiting the Pasha Haj Thami Glaoui, and his famous "Amoudou n'bariz." The latter piece refers to a visit of King Mohammed V to Paris. Although the great Rais did not make the trip, he sings a tribute to the City of Lights:

Our sul illa ch'ka gh'lberr wala gh'waman
There are no more troubles, neither on earth nor at sea
Wanna add our iran amoudou yakka laâdourat
He who wishes to travel has no more excuses
Mkar tid ournki, lakhbar'ns lan darnigh
Although we have not been, we have news of him
Koulou matidikan our iaâwid blah ghar'lkhir
Those who have visited say only good things

"In the twilight of his life, "Al Dalail Khairat" and the ribab slung over his shoulder, the eternal wanderer consulted the doctors of the faith on the legality of making commerce of his art. After a positive response, he said, "People sell what they have; so do I." Haj Belaid only began recording in 1929. Listening to him singing, at the age of 70, "Tachirguid", "Zeroualia", "Tazeroualt" "Ouar lman", "Tagujist" and "Toumoubil”, released by Gramophone, one can only imagine the subtleties of his voice when he was young. What a pity!"

This compliation includes two types of compositions. Some pieces are unmetered, poetic declamations ("Tagzirt", "Bariz", and "Alhaj") while the others are metered and include choral refrains. Oddly, tracks 1 and 10 begin with an announcement in Arabic along the lines of "Amarg Bariz, Rais Lhaj Belaïd and his group, in the presence of Ustad Muhammad Abdel Wahab", though neither of these songs are in fact "Bariz". Apparently the great Egyptian performer and composer Muhammad Abdel Wahab was in the studio when Lhaj Belaïd recorded these sides, and was quite impressed at Belaïd's ability to improvise verses.

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd Volume 2 (Casa Music cassette)
01) Tagzirt pt. 1
02) Tagzirt pt. 2
03) Bariz pt. 1
04) Bariz pt. 2
05) Lmakina pt. 1

06) Lmakina pt. 2
07) Adbir Oumlil
08) Alhaj pt. 1
09) Alhaj pt. 2
10) Tadouat Da Lqlim pt. 1
11) Tadouat Da Lqlim pt. 2
12) Aka Isber Yan
13) Attaleb
14) Mqar Tla Touga Arafoud

Get it all here.