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Makhelaw magalou
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MAHBOULA
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CABARET
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Niya
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Manal
BORN IN 1993 IN CASABLANCA, MOROCCO, MANAL KNEW FROM CHILDHOOD THAT MUSIC WOULD BE HER DESTINY. HAVING SUNG HER FIRST SONG AT THE AGE OF 6, SHE COMBED YOUTUBE FOR TUTORIALS AND TAUGHT HERSELF HOW TO PLAY THE GUITAR WITHOUT A SINGLE FORMAL LESSON. BY 11, SHE WAS A FULLY FLEDGED SONGWRITER AND READY TO EXPLORE HER MUSICAL TALENTS.
AFTER APPEARING ON LEBANON’S STAR ACADEMY IN 2009, MANAL BALANCED HER PASSION WITH HER STUDIES ACHIEVING HER BACCALAUREATE. IN 2014 SHE POSTED A COVER OF THE SONG ‘ZINA‘ TO YOUTUBE. THE VIDEO CAME TO THE ATTENTION OF MOROCCAN HITMAKER DJ VAN, AND HE RECOGNIZED HER INSTANTLY AS A SPECIAL TALENT.
VAN FEATURED MANAL ON THE SONG ‘MANTSAYADCH‘ ALONGSIDE A NUMBER OF WELL ESTABLISHED MOROCCAN ARTISTS. THE SONG WAS A BLOCKBUSTER IN MOROCCO, PILING UP MORE THAN 10 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS.
IN 2015 VAN PRODUCED MANAL’S FIRST SINGLE ‘DENIA‘, A SONG SHE HAD WRITTEN AND COMPOSED THREE YEARS PRIOR. DESPITE ITS SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS THEMES, THE SONG RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT RADIO PLAY AND LAUNCHED MANAL’S SOLO CAREER, EARNING HER THE ‘BEST FEMALE ARTIST NORTH AFRICA’ AWARD AT THE AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS IN 2015.
AFTER CONTRIBUTING HER VOCALS TO THE TELEVISION SHOW THEME SONG ‘TARIKHOUNA FAKHROUNA‘, MANAL TOOK A BREAK FROM MUSIC TO FOCUS ON HER STUDIES, RECEIVING HER MASTERS DEGREE IN 2016 AND SIGNING UP FOR A PHD, EVEN AS HER MUSICAL CAREER IGNITED. LATER THAT YEAR MANAL SWITCHED REPRESENTATION AND SIGNED WITH MANAGEMENT FIRM RPEG LTD, FOUNDED BY WU-TANG CLAN’S ASSOCIATED ARTIST & PRODUCER CILVARINGZ.
IN APRIL 2017, MANAL RELEASED HER SECOND SINGLE ‘KOULCHI BAN‘ TO WIDE RANGING CRITICAL ACCLAIM, AND BEFORE LONG, HER UNIQUE TALENT HAD CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF SONY MUSIC’S BEIRUT OFFICE A&R LARA KHOURY.
IN JUNE 2017, MANAL RECORDED TWO NEW SONGS IN COLLABORATION WITH MOROCCAN HIP HOP STARS SHAYFEEN. THE SONGS WERE EXACTLY WHAT SONY MUSIC HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR AND AFTER LENGTHY CONTRACTUAL NEGOTIATIONS A PIONEERING RECORDING CONTRACT WAS SIGNED IN OCTOBER 2017.
NOTHING ABOUT ‘KOULCHI BAN‘ OR INDEED ANY ARAB FEMALE ARTIST COULD HAVE PREDICTED WHAT CAME NEXT. MANAL’S NEW SINGLE ‘TAJ‘ IS AN EXPLOSIVE, ATTITUDE DRENCHED ASSERTION OF POWER AND INDEPENDENCE. TAKING THE ISSUE OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT HEAD ON, THE LYRICS ARE INSPIRED BY HER EARLY EXPERIENCES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WHERE EXECUTIVE AFTER EXECUTIVE TRIED TO TELL HER WHAT TO SING, HOW TO LOOK, WHAT TO WEAR AND HOW TO BEHAVE. REFUSING THE FINANCIAL TEMPTATIONS, SHE BEGAN A PHD AND RESOLVED NEVER TO ABDICATE HER MUSICAL IDENTITY.
A CHANCE MEETING WITH CILVARINGZ REKINDLED A SENSE OF POSSIBILITY. HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE SHARP END OF THE INDUSTRY COUPLED WITH HIS ADMIRATION FOR HER CREATIVE GIFTS SAW HIM BECOME MANAL’S EXECUTIVE MANAGER. SONY MUSIC UNDERSTOOD MANAL’S POTENTIAL AND RESPECTED HER SENSE OF SELF.
CREATIVE FREEDOM IS ON BOLD DISPLAY IN TAJ’S REVOLUTIONARY AND INTENSELY CONTROVERSIAL VIDEO. EDGY AND CINEMATIC, THE VIDEO EXPLORES GENDER STEREOTYPES AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT, RIDING A GLOBAL CULTURAL WAVE. WITH THE #METOO MOVEMENT SWEEPING THE WEST AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS BECOMING A KEY ISSUE IN THE ARAB WORLD, THE VIDEO IS A GRITTY YET GLAMOROUS EXPRESSION OF FEMALE STRENGTH AND IDENTITY.