I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco

Coming from a part of the world that is highly influenced by its religion, Morocco’s hip-hop culture faced much adversity throughout the crux of its movement. Stemming from the underground industry, hip-hop in Morocco has been very concealed until recently. Superstars are slowly yet surely emerging in Morocco from many different walks of life. A few of the upcoming superstars organized a festival in which the true colors of hip-hop could be properly showcased and exposed to the otherwise deprived Moroccans. After struggling to find proper funds to support each of these artist lifetime goals, the I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco crew ultimately partnered with Coca-Cola and the American Embassy. This documentary highlights the future of hip-hop as being left up to the youth of Morocco. It’s continued uprising lies in their hands now; and if they want it, they will go get it. 

The artist that stood out to me the most was the young girl, Fatima. At the time of this documentary’s release, she was still in her teenage years and she was taking on a task that was unimaginable by most Muslims. She, with the support of her parents, decided to pursue a career in hip-hop. Although still a follower of Allah and Islam, she took a less orthodox approach to her religion. She dressed in provocative clothes and spoke her mind through her raps. Both of these actions were highly controversial in the Islamic community. Nonetheless, Fatima was an individual who did not feel obligated to conform to the ideals of the average Muslim; so she strived to be successful in her hip-hop career. Making it onto a stage was something that most male hip-hop artist could not achieve let alone a female like Fatima, but her perseverance helped her triumph this life-long goal of hers. To her, hip-hop was the best method of expressing herself. It helped her get over many of the struggles faced by typical teenagers. Aside from that, she saw music as very fun, which further increased her overall passion for it. In a way, Fatima is fulfilling her dream as well as the previous dream of her father. Her father always aspired to become a musician throughout his childhood as well. His incapability helped to spark the beginning of Fatima’s journey as a musician. Fatima’s parents interestingly asserted that they feel as though Fatima took on the role of both the boy and the girl. She was in a girl’s body but felt as though she had every right to the lifestyle of a man. Fatima realized that she was one of the select few that would be assisting in broadening Morocco’s horizons to other forms of music, so she took her talent and put it to good societal use.

The other hip-hopper that stood out was Brown Fingaz. Early on in the film he stated, “Losing my ability to rap would be the same as losing my identity”. Here Brown Fingaz indicates that hip-hop music for him is a lifestyle, and he believes that he can be a devout Muslim while being heavily influenced by hip-hop. The conditions that Moroccans live in are unimaginable to most Americans. The projects in the United States are the equivalent of a nice neighborhood in Morocco. For him, hip-hop is a way of illustrating his oppression for poverty in Morocco. It’s quite similar to therapy for him. Using hip-hop allows him to portray messages to people that are not permitted. Free speech is not guaranteed in the Islamic faith, and that is why hip-hop is so problematic in this society. As Morocco becomes more accepting of this cultural change, the relationship between pop culture and youth culture is beginning to collide more directly. The world’s youth have a fascination with pop culture because of its innate ability to provide meaning and expression to complicated and unfortunate situations.

Balancing Islam with any amount of hip-hop culture is quite challenging in the Islamic community. Since it is generally not accepted whatsoever, its existence spreads quite a controversy. According to the artists, they take a less fundamental approach to their religion. Although it is still very important, they tend to be more open-minded in their religion and more inclusive. To deal with this pressure, the artists asserted that they use music to take them closer to their god. Music is a way of communicating with fellow Muslims and superior beings. Fatima for example, stays on top of her religious platform by praying frequently and fulfilling her Islamic duties. She does everything that other Muslims do, so she and her family see nothing wrong with the type of life she leads.

It was a very intelligent maneuver for the American Embassy to sponsor the festival. At a glance, giving ten thousand of American’s tax dollars to another country for a concert seems quite absurd. In retrospect, it was a great foreign policy move. This notion effectively promoted Western culture in a very pacifistic way. As it is commonly said, music brings people together. Having a better relationship with Muslim dominated countries improves the image of Americans within the entire world. Whether people are willing to admit it or not, free speech is a universal want in the world. America helping people to achieve the right to speak freely helps our foreign policy out largely. The audience was appreciative of the notion made by the United States because it helped them to advance culturally. For some of the more strict interpreters of the Islamic faith, this notion by the United States was a slap in the face. They believed that Americans were tweaking with something that had no concern to them. Changing a group of people’s faith that is centuries old is a very sensitive thing. In this case, the donation made by the American Embassy worsened the foreign policy. But overall, it was a non-violent promotion that ultimately strengthened the relationship with the Muslim community and gave more individual freedoms to many people.

Although controversial in some religions, hip-hop music really helped the advancement of a neo-Islamic faith, which in turn helped strengthen relationships with the United States. The common understanding that hip-hop is American is slowly fading away as the term “hip-hop” is becoming more of a globalized genre of music. Determination in adverse situations like the one portrayed in I love Hip-Hop in Morocco is the key ingredient to conquering the separation battle between religion and pleasure activities.