Oum

Oum is a Moroccan singer whose songs fuse together a number of world music traditions, including Andalusian classical, Afrobeat, and North African Berber music. Born in Casablanca on April 18, 1978, Oum El Ghaït BentelSahrawy sang in a gospel group as a child and made her national television debut at seventeen years old, performing "Tel est ton coeur." During the 2000s, Oum began writing a multilingual sound that combined native dialects like Darija and Tamazight with urban sounds, pop melodies, and international influences. Her debut album, Lik 'Oum, was released in 2009, followed by Sweerty in 2012. Her third record, 2013's Soul of Morocco, showcased a shift toward acoustic soul-jazz music. While recording 2015's Zarabi, the singer split her time between Normandy and the Moroccan desert that surrounds the village of M'Hamid El Ghizlane. Zarabi, whose title means "carpet" in Darija, was created in tribute to the village's population of female weavers. Daba followed in 2019, expanding Oum's sound to include not only a mix of Arabic and Sahrawi traditions, but also a balance of electronic and acoustic instrumentation.

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