Here's a swell rai album from singer Najat Tazi. This dates to 1992 or '93. Najat hails from the region of Taza in northeastern Morocco. The internet boasts dozens of her albums on international streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify,...
Here's a swell rai album from singer Najat Tazi. This dates to 1992 or '93. Najat hails from the region of Taza in northeastern Morocco. The internet boasts dozens of her albums on international streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify, etc. On some she sings in Riffian Tamazight (Tarrifit), and on others she sings in Moroccan Arabic. Despite this prolific output, I can find almost no details of her life or career online.
The one short article I found relates that she was born in the town of Aknoul, north of Taza, began her career singing backup for many artists, gained initial notoriety singing cover versions of songs by rai singers Cheb Khaled and Mimoun al Oujdi, and has subsequently recorded more than 50 albums. The article also links to a 2020 video interview, so if you know Tarrifit and find that she said something noteworthy, please let me know! [1]
She performed at the big Mawazine festival in Rabat in 2016.
This album has some great early rai grooves and some unusual keyboard sounds. And Najat's voice is powerful. Dig this opening track:
Najat Tazi ???? ??????
Fassiphone cassette 07/4 ???????
c. 1992-93
A1 Ya Saqi ?? ????
A2 Tkherrejti Āla Ouladi ?????? ??? ?????
A3 Démarrez ??????
B1 Kounti Ghalia Kifache Rkhesti ???? ????? ????? ?????
B2 Zine Ālah Iseddou Ālia Lbibane ????? ???? ???? ???? ???????
B3 Ouelli Lia Ya Lāziz ??? ??? ???????
[1] Najim Al-Sabaa (???? ?????). "Gzennaya stars around the world: The capable artist Najat Al-Tazi (???? ??????? ??? ?????? | ??????? ???????? ???? ??????)". https://gzennayamedia.blogspot.com/2020/11/blog-post_11.html
Interview excerpt on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBGdYdcAUc
Full interview on RADAS TV program "Thawra n Rif": https://www.facebook.com/RADASTV1/videos/486435888975880/
