Mahreb Traditions Meets Rock 'n Roll Fusion: Bab L'Bluz on Reclaiming the Blues of North Africa

Interview by Parisa Eshrati

Emerging from the underground Afro-Arab music scene, Bab L’ Bluz are reclaiming the blues of North Africa on their debut album, Nayda! Fronted by an African-Moroccan woman in a traditionally male role, Bab L'Bluz's music nods to the revolutionary attitude of the Moroccan "Nayda" youth movement. The album is rooted in traditions of the Maghreb and ancient Gnawa music, but incorporates modern influences of rock, funk, and psychedelic fusion. In this detailed three-part interview, we spoke with vocalist and multi-instrumentalists Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin on the evolution of the Nayda movement, the instrumental and spiritual connection to Gnawa music, as well as the various lyrical themes expressed throughout the album.

Note: This interview was conducted via email and then translated by a third party. The intention of both parties were held up to the best of everyone's ability considering the language barriers.

Part 1: The Nayda Movement

I wanted to start by talking about the Nayda youth movement, which your album is named after. Can you briefly describe your impressions of the scene when it first began, and how you’ve seen it grow over the past decade?

First of all, we wanted to call our album "Nayda" for the primary meaning of the word, which is "partying", or intellectual or spiritual "awakening". We are musicians, and the first feeling that drives us is that of bringing people together, of breaking down the barriers that we ourselves or even society imposes on us. We must do this in order to reach out to others and come together, because we are all equal, and we all have to learn from each other. This is a basic philosophy of life that animates us, marked by respect. Nevertheless, it is useful to remember it, even in 2020.

We are also interested in this movement because we want to encourage creation on the part of young people, as well as older people. In Morocco, as everywhere else in the world, we want to encourage young people to advance mentalities, and not reproduce some of the mistakes of our predecessors. There is also a creative energy of many artists, rappers and rockers alike, who are mobilizing in recent years to push creation. This type of energy can only have a positive effect on the world. 

This type of Nayda mentality is also possible thanks to the people who organize cultural gatherings, such as music festivals. We had the chance to play at the L'Boulevard Festival in Casablanca, which for more than 20 years has been transmitting these notions of sharing
through their eclectic programming. These type of festivals allow several styles and generations to rub shoulders. Overall, we encourage youth to believe in themselves in order to improve the global world in which we all live.


It seems like the scene is on a very progressive trajectory, but there are still setbacks here and there (i.e. a group of heavy metal singers were sentenced for playing “satanic” music back in ‘03.) How does the Nayda culture bounce back from these setbacks, and where do you see it leading in the future?

As it is everywhere, preconceived ideas are born from an ignorance of the other. Sometimes you can have a negative opinion about something you don't know well. We encourage respect for different styles of music, especially those that we have yet to understand and appreciate.

We have grown up in the era of globalization. We have had the chance to learn a lot from being interested in other styles of music and other cultures. For us, the beauty of life is a perpetual learning, a questioning. We think that there is no age you can stop learning, and we try to perpetuate a message of peace, love and global respect as well.


Whenever I read about the beginning of this movement, I always see all-male groups being credited as the forefront leaders. Yousra, could you comment on the female forces in the underground that have pushed this movement that we might not read about here in the West? 

Unfortunately, it's like anything else, but we're here to change these precepts. Even in France, known as the "country of human rights", women are paid less than men for the same work. Nevertheless, including in the field of music, many women are active and are becoming major cultural players. We have many male and female role models, and have had them for a very long time, fortunately!


And how does this sentiment above relate to the song “Yemma”, where you sing about women and their sacrifices?

We wanted to pay tribute to mothers in general. We were lucky enough to be raised by strong mothers. We wanted to pay tribute to the one who carried us, fed us, and educated us in the best possible way,. We are paying homage to the mothers that had to sacrifice themselves to allow their children to be good people.


I’ve read that reclaiming the use of Darija in songwriting has been an integral part of the movement, as beforehand many young musicians were pressured to believe that singing in English would make their music more “appealing” or “accessible” to a larger audience. Can you discuss the power of reclaiming the language within your music and in the scene overall?

We wanted to write songs in Darija, or classical Arabic, because that's what came naturally. We really appreciate the richness of the language and the beautiful sounds it offers, and we're proud of it. We also understand the choice that artists make when using English to be universal. Nevertheless, sometimes music provides a personal and intimate understanding of a song from a listener who does not understand the language, and we appreciate this level of understanding ourselves when we listen to music whose lyrics we do not understand. 


The Nayda movement is not just about one sound, but encompasses a whole generation of musicians of all genres. So I'd like to hear your views on what you think is the common thread that connects all these varied styles within the movement, whether it's the overall message, the attitude, etc.

Above all, it is a message of peace, love, respect and tolerance that animates us. We would like each one of us to be able to transmit this to others, pulling ourselves upwards, and developing the right attitudes towards everything around us.
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​Part 2: Traditions and Culture of Gnawa Music

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You mention in your liner notes that your music is reclaiming the blues of North Africa. I’ve read that Gnawa music today incorporates both traditional North African music roots along with the later influence of Sufism traditions from the Berber people. Is this reclamation you mention referring to getting back in those early music roots?  If not, can you elaborate on this blues reclamation and what it means to you?

In a way, yes, but in 2020 we're all exposed to a rich musical background from several cultures and several eras, so there are so many influences to consider in this discussion. For us, it's obvious that what we call "American" blues is rooted in an African tradition, whether harmonically or rhythmically, with the use of trance.

Learning Afrobeat, Gnawa, rock and many other styles are keys for us to understand music in general. There are a lot of similarities, and that's what interests us. Moreover, we believe that the blues are an excellent vehicle to convey a feeling, to tell a story that makes us happy or sad. The "blues" is a global feeling, found in many cultures around the world.


Brice - you’ve noted your interest in the origins of Gnawa music and its harmonic relations to music in the Middle East. What is your understanding of the roots of the music, how it branched to different areas, and furthermore how it ties back into your mission statement above?
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For us music hasn't waited for the internet or a plane to travel. The music has evolved and traveled at all times.  From these journeys flow harmonic and rhythmic enrichment, just as when we encounter other cultures, we are personally enriched. One important thing to note is that Gnawa music is rooted in a context of suffering. It has traveled from its origins in the cults of Sahelian adoration, and have been adapted by the descendants of the sub-Saharan slaves in the Maghreb. Nevertheless I am not an expert on this subject, and I invite everyone to do research on these fascinating subjects.


You are a rock ‘n roll band at your core, and I was wondering if it’s still considered controversial to combine rock with traditional Gnawa music. I know that many famous Gnawa musicians have branched out and done collaborations with artists like Robert Plant, for example, but many traditionalists met that with mixed reviews and hesitated that the music would stray away from the sacred traditions. Is this something still discussed in Gnawa music culture? And if so, how do you discuss the balance of tradition with evolution?

Yes, we're a rock band, we just wanted to electrify our guembri and create our own songs, like we would have done with electric guitars. We have a lot of respect for the great maalemins of Tagnaouite, and Robert Plant.  They give us the mojo, and inspire us a lot! We're not in a position to judge certain music, because we're not music critics. But I remember the first time I saw this live, Maâlem Brahim El Belkani & Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, I must have been 13 years old. I really liked it! 


Yousra - to add onto this question, I’d like to throw in your perspective of taking on a traditionally male role. Can you elaborate on how you and other women in the Nayda scene are revolutionizing Gnawa music by taking on these formerly male roles?

We're not trying to revolutionize anything, we're just trying to show the reality...the reality that women have equal rights, talents and legitimacy in any field, including music.


Rituals are another essential component of traditional Gnawa music. The maâlem, for example, will guide the listeners in an ecstatic trip across the realms of the seven mluk, using various instruments, colors, incense, etc. Do you have any of your own sort of rituals that mimic these traditions while recording or writing?

Without going that far, we try to be positive and in harmony with what surrounds us on a daily basis. It is for us a force that we want to transmit.
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Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin of Bab L'Bluz

​Part 3: Instrumental & Lyrical Themes

​Let's discuss the different instruments incorporated in this album. Many of the traditional instruments you present have been used throughout time as medicine to induce trance states. What is your personal relationship with these instruments regarding their unique sound and healing properties?

The guembri is a very impressive instrument because of its simplicity of construction, its unifying force, and its wide repertoire, rich both rhythmically and harmonically. It is, for us, the ancestor of the current bass or double bass, and from its three strings, a very great musical and cultural richness arises (which is similar to the origins of the blues, from something simple something very rich arises). And the qarqabous are a basic instrument, but very rich in its timbre. It plays a complex role in our music. We cross its rhythms, which break the binary and ternary duality. This instrument has been taught mechanically for a few centuries in the West. This is a particularity that we also find in the blues phrasing.


There's a whole range of chords on this album which covers many Afro-Arab, Middle Eastern and Western traditions. Can you tell us about the different tuning influences incorporated on this record?

We play with two guembris tuned to the octave.  In addition, we are tuned in quarter tone on all the tracks, with one string in the octave. We play in different pentatonic scales, making references to gnawa, rock, chaabi, afrobeat, hassani music... in short, blues!


 “El Gamra” is an ode to the moon and its healing powers. How has the spiritual world of nature been a direct influence on Bab L’Bluz’s music?
 
For us it is unthinkable to dissociate men from nature. We are an integral part of nature. We do our best to respect it, because it is also by respecting it that we are able to respect life itself. 

The moon interacts with our planet through three physical forces: gravitation, magnetic field, and light.  By stabilizing its position in relation to the Sun, it has allowed the emergence of a climate favorable to the development of life on Earth. In the same way, we wish to share a good energy with the people who come to see us in concert, and we wish to create a positive impulse of sharing and openness between our listeners.

Moreover, like the oceans, and other elements of life, we are intimately linked to it. Women in particular have a direct connection through their menstrual cycle, which is a direct echo with the lunar cycle. Composed of four phases: New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, Last Quarter, it resonates with the four energies found in all life: birth, growth, blossoming, and decay.


The words of "Ila Mata" are inspired by the Tunisian poet Anis Shoshan, to awaken the sleeping consciousness of individuals indoctrinated by racism. Can you tell us more about this message, especially how it relates to the current uprising for social justice, and how we music lovers need to be educated and rooted in anti-racist theory?

Obviously, unjust and racist people are uneducated people who have closed themselves off in their intellectual decline. This is the exact opposite of what we stand for with the album Nayda!  It is due to our interests and deep respect for others that we have been able to become musicians and evolve musically. The global society in which we evolve tends to privilege the culture of ego and individualism. Unfortunately, this is also visible in musicians, neo-hippies or bankers. We believe that you have to be at peace with yourself in order to be at peace with others, and that is the core understanding of music too.

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I know it is difficult to discuss the future in our world of quarantine, but what is the next step for Bab L' Bluz? 

Have tours, do live shows, meet our listeners!
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You can purchase Bab L'Bluz new album Nayda! on Bandcamp.
Stay up to date on their Facebook. 
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