2003 Pop Culture Snapshot in Dqiqi Form - Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou - Youm Wara Youm

I've extolled the virtues of dqiqiya (a.k.a. tkitikate) men's percussion and vocal groups in these pages before, most comprehensively in the post Tkitikate! Tkitikate! Party Time! Excellent!. I went as far as to posit the genre as "an active repository of Moroccan musical memory... like a jukebox". 

To be clear, I meant to say that A GOOD, LIVE DQIQIYA GROUP functions like that. 

On the other hand, there is a variety of commercial cassette that while exhibiting some sonic similarities to dqiqiya is primarily a cash-in on whatever is floating around in pop culture at the moment. This type of cassette does have the potential to be awesome, depending on how you feel about global pop hits, novelty tunes, and theme songs to TV programs. A prime example of this is the unforgettable Clown Sings About Pokémon cassette I shared here many moons ago.

However, this sort of cassette should not be taken as representative of the genre of dqiqiya. And it CERTAINLY should not be taken as representing the genre of Daqqa Marrakchia. (For my explication of the confusion between Daqqa Marrakchia and Dqiqiyya, see my post Ashura in Marrakech - Daqqa Marrakchiya.)

All of this is a preface to talking about today's offering a 2003 cassette credited to a group called Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou. It is not a recording of the folkloric genre of Daqqa Marrakchiya, and it is not a recording of a standard dqiqiya group. It is a studio creation with some of the sonic trappings of dqiqiya, presenting itself with the name Daqqa Marrakchiya, and trying to have some fun (and cash in) on the latest pop culture trends.

For full disclosure, I had to shed a lot of baggage before writing about this novelty cassette because it pushed so many of my musical and musicological buttons. Here's what I scribbled down while I was listening to the tape:

• I know I should get over it, but it bugs me that men's percussion and vocal ensembles, more properly known as tkitikate or dqiqiya, are typically sold under the name of Dakka Marrakchiya.
• Real tkitikate keep the groove going and the crowd interested by using actual songs with actual lyrics, not by inserting singalong soccer-type chant melodies with no lyrics - that just seems lazy to me. . [egad, the blogger as arbiter of tkitikate authenticity 🤦🏻‍♂️]
  
• God, who thought that a synth bass and a little keyboard flute would be a good thing with this music. It's already defanged from having much bite by the boring drum machine replacing real drums. [note: the blogger identifies as a bass player and is particularly allergic to synth basses and drum machines from actual gigging]
  
• The backup vocals are too smooth. I mean, I really need to shut up. What do I expect from commercial chaabi from Casablanca trying to brand itself as dakka marrakchia.
• Why the f--- would you do this sort of music with a drum machine and not with real drums. Again, I am a f---ing hypocrite, 'cos I DO LIKE drum machines if they're AS IN YOUR FACE AS ACTUAL DRUMS. I mean this sounds like the beats you'd put to some of that smooth casablanca chaabi, which sort of works when your lead instrument is a scratchy viola. BUT WHEN YOUR MAIN INSTRUMENT IS THE DRUMS, WHY NOT MAKE THE DRUMS DRIVE THE GROOVE INSTEAD OF REMAINING EXACTLY THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TRACK.

Wow, so much vitriol for a harmless novelty cassette. Once I calmed down, I was able to enjoy it on its own flawed terms as a fun chaabi-rhythm time capsule of pop culture items that were "viral" in 2003 (before we were using the term viral). Here's some of what you get:

The album is named Youm Wara Youm, a reference to the SMASH 2002 HIT of the same name by Samira Said with Cheb Mami. 

I still ADORE that song:

The Dakka el Marrakchia Nou Nou song is nothing close to being a cover version of Youm Wara Youm. It does retain the lyrics

Youm wara youm
Habibi ma gani noum
Habibi wa dini git

But it's not sung in anything similar to the melody of the original.

Track 2 appears to be based on the theme song to a Moroccan TV program from 2002, Dar Mwi Hniya (Mwi Hniya's House)

There are some entertaining verses where the singer is hurling curses at his cell phone for dropping the signal while he's talking to his sweetheart. And there's a silly solfege singalong.

And the final track seems to be based on the Egyptian novelty song from 2002 "Baba Fein", here called by the recurring lyric "Âmmu Âmmu"

If you're in the mood for it, it's sort of entertaining in the way that the original was, that is, it's cute to hear kids delivering clever rhyming couplets making excuses to the Uncle (Âmmu) about why their father isn't at home.

Si Mohamed Aguir (right) wearing a taguia

One thing I can't figure out, though, is the cover art for the album. What are the cone-shaped things superimposed on top of these ladies' heads? Are they supposed to resemble the taguia hats worn by actual tqitikate groups? Nobody I showed this to has any idea what is going on. The general consensus is that it's tkharbiqa (great Moroccan term meaning something like "nonsense", "junk" or "whatever")

Best Wishes to all for a better 2024. Ceasefire Now.

Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou الدقة المراكشية نو نو
Youm Wara Youm يعم ورا يوم
Edition Safi cassette SD 2003 انتاج الصافي

A1 Youm Wara Youm يعم ورا يوم
   and the best current songs وأروع الأغاني الحالية

B1 Mwi Hniya مي هنية
B2 Âmmu Âmmu عمو عمو

320 | FLAC

Ashura Upgrade - Daqqa Marrakchiya

Here's a slight upgrade to a tape I shared a few years ago. I wanted to share some more of the great Daqqa Marrakchiya music that gets played in the streets of Marrakech on Ashura, and I knew I had another tape.

The downside was that the tape turned out to be the same one that I shared previously. The upside was that there was different, equally great j-card art, and that the tape flip and in/out points were different.

I patched the two together, so here is a slight upgrade that adds an additional great 20 seconds of music and that can now be heard as a single track uninterrupted by a tape flip.

I like it when Islamic and Jewish holidays line up together. This year both new New Years came in at the same time, as did Ashura and Yom Kippur. Wishing blessings, reflection and inspiration to all.

Dekka de Marrakech (الدقة المراكشية)
Majmuât ad-daqqa al-marrakchiya (مجموعة الدقة المراكشية)
under the direction of al Hajj Muhammad Baba (برئاسة الحاج محمد بابا)
Sawt el Haouz (صوت الحوز) cassette S.H. 38
slight upgrade


Dekka de Marrakech - excerpt

Get it all here.

For more info on Daqqa Marrakchiya, see Wikipedia (fr) and Moroccan Tape Stash.

Ashura in Marrakech - Daqqa Marrakchiya

In honor of Ashura, which is celebrated this week, I'm breaking away momentarily from my series of Jbala posts to return to my beloved Marrakech.

Here's a swell tape of daqqa marrakchiya, a fantastic genre performed especially for Ashura, famously in Marrakech (though its roots are apparently in Taroudant).

It's surprisingly difficult to find video examples of it online. The only one I could find is this snippet from the streets of Marrakech, apparently from the Sidi Youssef quarter:



It's performed by large groups of men, most of them with a taârija drum, with one man on a pair of qraqeb. It starts slooooooooooooooow and heavy with looooooong poetic stanzas.  Eventually it builds in speed, the rhythms become less complex, and ends with a raucous, deafening section in good 'old 6/8.

It seems like many Moroccans use the term daqqa marrakchiya to refer to what I knew in Marrakech as dqiqiyya or tkitikat - i.e., men's perussion/party ensembles:



These groups are great fun, but should not be confused with the daqqa I'm presenting here.

Etymological excursion: I'm pretty sure the names of these percussion groups are diminutive forms of the names of other Moroccan genres: dqiqqiya being a diminutive form of daqqa, and tkitikat sounding like a diminutive form of taktouka (about which, more next week).

Back to the real daqqa: In bygone days, each neighborhood in Marrakech had its own daqqa group that would perform all night, outdoors, on the night of Ashura. The rhythm of the long, slow opening section (the âayt), is a lopsided thing. It alternates 3 bangs on the taârija with 4 bangs, and each grouping is separated by a clack of the qarqaba whose delivery is streeeeeeeetched out beyond any reasonable sense of meter. Very striking stuff - check the excerpt below for a bit from the beginning and a bit from the end of the tape.

If you like the sound of this, (and I know you do), try to find a copy of the CD La Daqqa: Tambours sacrés de Marrakech. It's a lovely 62 minute recording (one single track!), with excellent performers.

Dekka de Marrakech: Majmuât ad-daqqa al-marrakchiya under the direction of al Hajj Muhammad Baba
Excerpts from sides 1 and 2


Get it all here.

PS - I love the blue Sawt al Haouz cassette shell:

Not forgetting the logo featuring the Koutoubia:

And the Doctor Who-ish psychedelic j-card design. Nuff said.