Musical UFO and partner of the independent scene, the Moroccan festival L’Boulevard celebrated its 20th anniversary in Casablanca by highlighting a flamboyant youth full of talent and shedding light on artists with extra soul. Forerunner of an urban scene free of its artistic choices, L’Boulevard helps showcasing female rap talents such as Khtek. Not far from there, Medusa is rocking Tunisia with heart and soul.
Khtek: “The most recurrent thing is the sexist and reductive comments on the internet”
Photo: Courtesy Khtek
Deeply inspired by Notorious BIG, Vinnie Paz, Nas, Mobb Deep, Shaybo, Lady Leshurr, and Miss Lafamilia, Khtek is a charismatic artist who chose rap as a means to express herself. She discovered what was about to become her destiny in 2006 through the magazine Telquel, which was sometimes sold with CDs containing Moroccan rap and fusion hits of the time.
“The first track that attracted me was “L’Khouf”, from the album Mgharba Tal L’Mout by Don Bigg. I started to download everything that existed at the time on the internet, using the Ares software. But over the years, I made a switch to alternative rock and grunge. It wasn’t until 2013 that a friend sent me sounds from L’Moutchou, Fat Mizzo etc, and to my surprise, that was all I needed as I wasn’t doing well psychologically. My curiosity brought me back to a new culture, that of hip-hop. I started to search, to listen to everything and I ended up falling in love with this discipline, which later became my profession,” says Houda Abouz, whose stage name means “your sister” and who finds her inspiration in difficult moments, depressive episodes, or disappointments in everyday life. “I don’t have an exact method to create a song. Sometimes I have a theme that is the main thread in my lyrics, and sometimes I write impulsively and end up with several lyrics that I structure with an instrument. It depends on my mood, my desires; I try to do things with desire so that I don’t feel obliged to create.”
Khtek does everything passionately. She believes in the power of the instant—even a movie or an article can unconsciously inspire her new lyrics. For her, writing is a form of therapy.
A new day has come
“The Arab and North African rap scene has always existed with many artistically and culturally diverse talents. It is true that the artists are not as well known as the international rappers, but things are starting to change.” According to Khtek , social networks have allowed these artists to reach a wider audience, as well as streaming platforms like Spotify, which was behind the Sawtik (your voice) campaign, a playlist with several female artists from the Arab world and North Africa. This was a great way to highlight female talents in the Arab world, because, for her, it’s not about being a female artist, it’s about being a woman. “I think it’s difficult to be a woman at all, especially in a society like Morocco, you are always a subject of discussion and criticism,” says the artist for whom rap is not different from everyday life. “But personally, I was able to integrate easily and I didn’t really have huge obstacles. I find a lot of joy in what I do and I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with several rappers who have never put me down, they’ve always appreciated me and respected my talent. The most recurrent thing is the sexist and reductive comments on the internet, but in the street, I have never had any problem.”
Medusa : “My rap is not always about anger”
In Tunisia, a true talent was born in 1991 in Nabeul, who turned out to be a hip-hop lover since she was 10 years old. Medusa started her career with break dancing, which her brother helped her practice. “It was exceptional that an Arab family encouraged its daughter to break dance, which was very male-oriented back in the day,” says Medusa, who started rapping and recording songs when she was 16 years old. “My rap is not always about anger, it depends on the mood and inspiration that I am feeling. Rap always has to be about a specific subject, give a solution and have a strong message, but sometimes, rap can be for entertainment just to hear a beautiful sound and melody with the correct flow.” The Tunisian artist has two ways of writing. Her first method is to write about a subject that inspires her, such as female equality, politics, social issues, or state of mind. “When I write a song, I always have a melody in my head, so the next step is to find a beat maker who will produce a song with my melody.” Her second way of writing is to hear a beat by a beat maker and start working on top lines to construct a song on a theme that fits the beat.
Talkin’ about the revolution
“The revolution impacted my carrier a lot. Actually, at a specific moment right after the revolution, I felt myself becoming the voice of Tunisian women, there were not a lot of girls rapping,” the artist shares. Through her songs, she talks about human rights criticizing the system. “But after showcasing around many Arab countries, I found out that Arab women were listening to my music, sharing the same issues I was talking about in my songs.” Inspired by the likes of Queen Latifa, MC Lite, Diam’s, Keny Arkana, EVE, Missy Elliot, Beyoncé, and Balti in Tunisia, Medusa continues, “There is a strong female Arab scene. I collaborated with a lot of Arab female rappers in some of my projects. We need to be more visible in the rap scene for sure, but this will come. I have no doubt about it.” Currently, the musician is preparing an electro trap EP called Trinity, which features eight songs with strong messages in Arabic, French and English and will be released in Spring 2023.
