Morad El Khattouti El Horami (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: مراد الخطوطي, ''Morad El Khattouti''; born 5 March 1999), known mononymously as Morad, is a Spanish rapper. He topped the PROMUSICAE singles charts with "Bzrp Music Sessions Vol. 47" in 2021 and with "Pelele" in 2022.

Early life

Morad was born on 5 March 1999 in the La Florida neighbourhood of

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; es, Hospitalet de Llobregat), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a municipality of Spain, located to the immediate southwest of Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is part of the Bar ...

Barcelona metropolitan area The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...

, to Moroccan parents; his father was from

Nador Nador ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⴷⵓⵔ) is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 161,726 (2014 census). Nador city is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a salt lagoon nam ...

and his mother is from

Larache Larache ( ar, العرايش, al-'Araysh) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many ...

, the former whom abandoned the family when Morad was young. He spent some of his childhood in a

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fami ...

. He began rapping with friends at the age of 14 via

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Career

Morad popularised in Spain the abbreviation "M.D.L.R" (''Mec de la Rue'', French for "street boy"), used by French

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...

musicians of

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

i origin. His 2019 debut album and 2020

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

were titled ''MDLR'' and ''MDLR 2.0'' respectively. Morad collaborated with Argentine producer

Bizarrap Gonzalo Julián Conde (born August 29, 1998), known professionally as Bizarrap, is an Argentine record producer and DJ. He specializes in EDM, Latin trap and rap. He is known for his Bzrp Music Sessions, which he records with a wide variety of ...

on "Bzrp Music Sessions Vol. 47", which topped the PROMUSICAE singles chart for two weeks in late December 2021. His song "Pelele" topped the same chart the following month.

Personal life

Relationships

In the early hours of 27 June 2021, Morad's ex-girlfriend Cristina used the key that she kept from their relationship to break into his apartment on the

Plaça d'Europa Plaça d'Europa (official name in Catalan, in es, Plaza de Europa) is a square in the District VII (Granvia l'Hospitalet) of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat suburb of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. Located on the Granvia de l'Hospitalet avenue at the ...

and stab his new girlfriend as she slept next to him. By 9 July, the

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

had found no trace of the attacker's whereabouts.

Legal issues

Morad and a friend were charged with attempted robbery and threats, alleged to have taken place in the

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

neighbourhood of

El Putget i Farró EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

in April 2018. In 2022, the prosecution requested a prison sentence of 2 years, while the defence said that it was a case of

mistaken identity Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendan ...

. The pair were acquitted when the court heard from a police agent that the images of the suspects did not match the accused. In April 2022, Morad was arrested for not attending a court hearing for driving without a licence. Two months later, he was arrested again for reckless driving without a licence. In July 2022, he was arrested for disrespecting the police when a car he was a passenger in was stopped for passing a red traffic light. In July 2022, a judge opened a case against Morad for uploading a video of a member of the

Mossos d'Esquadra The ''Mossos d'Esquadra'' (; en, Squad), also known as the ''Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya'' and informally as ''Mossos'', is the autonomous police force responsible for law enforcement in Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. ...

who had fined him for a parking violation, alongside the false accusation that the police officer was a child abuser. In October 2022, Morad was arrested on suspicion of having paid young people in La Florida to commit

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. As part of his

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

conditions, he was not allowed to return to the neighbourhood.

Political views

Morad has voiced support for King

Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Moham ...

and the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. In July 2022, a fan in

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

threw a

flag of Western Sahara The flag of Western Sahara (Arabic: علم الصحراء الغربية, also known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) uses a national flag consisting of a black, white and green horizontal tricolor charged with a red star and crescent i ...

on stage, which he picked up, believing it to be a

flag of Palestine The flag of Palestine ( ar, علم فلسطين) is a tricolor of three equal horizontal stripes (black, white, and green from top to bottom) overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the hoist. This flag is derived from the Pan-Arab colors and ...

. He apologised to his Moroccan fans for the misunderstanding.

Discography

Studio albums

*''M.D.L.R'' (2019) *''K y B Cap. 1'' (2022)

Extended plays

*''M.D.L.R 2.0'' (2020)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Morad
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Morad
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morad 1999 births Living people People from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat Spanish people of Moroccan descent Spanish male rappers Singers from Catalonia People acquitted of robbery