Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui ( ar, أم الغيث بن الصحراوي), better known as Oum ( ar, أوم, born 18 April 1978 in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

), is a Moroccan singer-songwriter. Considered an ambassador of Moroccan culture, she mixes hassani, jazz, gospel, soul, afrobeat and Sufi music influences in her songs.

Biography

At a very young age, Oum joined a gospel choir where she played her first solos at fourteen with a voice that impressed listeners. At seventeen, her first song, "This is your heart" that she wrote to support the charity operation "Les malades du cœur", helped to successfully secure her first appearance on television. In 1996, she entered the National School of Architecture in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

. She pursued her studies there until graduation in 2002. At the same time, she began to perform in public. With a powerful and expressive voice, she takes over the repertoire of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, Ella Fitzgerald or Whitney Houston. In 1998, Oum did her first attempts with hip-hop and RnB with Djo Catangana, a

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and creator of the French hip hop

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

Mafia Trece. In 2002, she was noticed by Philippe Delmas, who invited her to Paris. For two years, she alternated recording sessions and concerts in Casablanca with the Brotherhood band. In 2004, she ended her Parisian period. Back in Morocco, she entered new musical universes: the Gnaoui and the Hassani. Oum's decision to introduce such local forms of rhythms not only influenced her songs' tunes but also her lyrics. She performed with Barry, a musician known for his fusion of musical styles and repertoires, on the stages of the

Gnaoua World Music Festival The Gnaoua World Music Festival is a Gnawa music festival held annually in Essaouira, Morocco. It was founded in 1998 by A3 Groupe, a private event-organizing company located in Casablanca. The festival provides a platform for a meeting point of ...

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

, the Tanjazz in Tangier, and the Barcelona Acció Musical in Barcelona. Oum, who grew up in

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, is a soul singer. Yet, her style remains unique since it is highly inspired by influences such as the Hassani poetry (Moroccan desert culture) and African rhythms. Her first album ''Lik 'Oum'' appeared in Casablanca in May 2009. ''Whowa'' means "him" in dialectical Moroccan Darija in the first single from her second album ''Sweerty'' -means "luck" in Moroccan dialectical Arabic ( Darija). It was released with a video clip in January 2010. In July 2012, she released Harguin, a collaboration with Blitz the Ambassador on the theme of

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

from

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. ''Sweerty'' was released in 2012. Oum was invited to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on the occasion of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

to give a concert on 7 March 2012. She was invited in June 2013 to take part in the

(Morocco). In September 2015, she released her fourth album: ''Zarabi'', which means "carpets" in Moroccan Darija and it is a tribute to the carpet weavers of the village of M'Hamid El Ghizlane. She wrote and co-directed it with Mathis Haug. Yacir Rami accompanied her on the Oud and Rhani Krija on the percussions. Her song "Taragalte", from the album ''Soul of Morocco'', was used in the 2018 movie '' Beirut''.

Discography

Albums

;''Lik'Oum'' (2009) ;''Sweerty'' (2012) ;''Soul of Morocco''(2013) ;''Zarabi'' (2015) ;''Daba'' (2020)

Singles

# Oum featuring Barry : ''Dear Mamma'' (2003) # ''Hamdoullah'' (2004) # ''Daym Allah'' (2004) # ''Africa'' (2004}) # ''Humilité'' (2005) # ''La Ti'ass feat. H. Kayne'' (2008) # ''Hip Hop Exchange Featuring H-Kayne & Tote King'' (2009) # ''Lik'' (2009) # Oum featuring Don Bigg : ''Lik'' (2010) # ''Taragalte'' (''Soul of Morocco'') (2013)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oum 1978 births 21st-century Moroccan women singers Living people