Hassan Wargui (Morocco)
Hassan Wargui is a Moroccan musician of Amazigh heritage who creates hypnotic songs inspired by the indigenous traditions of southern Morocco. A dynamic vocalist and skilled banjo player, he is also a multi-instrumentalist who wrote, performed, recorded, and mixed his acclaimed 2021 album Tiddukla (Hivemind Records) entirely himself. He has performed across Europe and North Africa, including appearances at Clandestino Festival in Sweden, La Cave 12 in Switzerland, Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival, and the Goethe-Institut in Tunisia, and has collaborated with American musician DJ /rupture.
Featured Song:
“Aqchchab” (The Jellaba) is sung in Tachelhit, a Tamazight language spoken by the Amazigh population of Morocco’s Souss region and Anti-Atlas mountains. The song uses the traditional Moroccan jellaba, a hooded, ankle-length robe, as a metaphor for inherited tradition. As Wargui describes it, “the song reflects on the moment when we begin to question what we have inherited, with taking off the old jellaba representing reconsidering that inheritance while staying connected to one’s roots.” The banjo, heard in the song alongside rhythm box and acoustic guitar, has been part of Amazigh music from this region since Chleuh troubadours began performing with it in the 1940s. The instrument was later carried into the mainstream in the 1970s by iconic bands like Nass El Ghiwane and Souss groups such as Izenzaren.
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