Oum (singer)

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Oum
أم الغيث بن الصحراوي
Oum in 2016
Oum in 2016
Background information
Born (1978-04-18) 18 April 1978 (age 46)
Casablanca, Morocco
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter

Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui (Arabic: أم الغيث بن الصحراوي), better known as Oum (Arabic: أوم, born 18 April 1978[1][2] in Casablanca, Morocco), is a singer-songwriter of modern Moroccan popular music. Performing and recording both in North Africa and in Europe, she mixes hassani, jazz, gospel, soul, afrobeat and Sufi musical influences in her songs.

Early life and education[edit]

Oum, who grew up in Marrakech, is a singer-songwriter inspired by Moroccan popular music, Hassani poetry (Moroccan desert culture) and African rhythms. She interprets her lyrics in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), French, English and Spanish.[3]

At the young age of fourteen, Oum joined a gospel choir in her native Casablanca, where she impressed listeners with her voice and interpretation. At seventeen, her first song, "This is your heart" that she wrote to support the charity "Les malades du cœur", helped to successfully secure her first appearance on television. In 1996, she entered the National School of Architecture in Rabat and pursued her studies there until graduation in 2002.[4]

Musical career[edit]

At the same time, she began to perform in public. With a powerful and expressive voice, she interpreted songs by singers such as Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald or Whitney Houston. In 1998, Oum had her first experience with hip-hop and RnB, working with Djo Catangana, a producer and creator of the French hip hop collective Mafia Trece.[4]

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.[4]

Back in Morocco, she entered new musical universes: the Gnaoui and the Hassani traditions. Oum's decision to introduce such local 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 in Essaouira, the Tanjazz in Tangier, and the Barcelona Acció Musical in Barcelona.[4]

Her first album Lik 'Oum was published in Casablanca in May 2009.[5] The first single from her second album Sweerty (Luck), Whowa means "Him" in Moroccan 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 from sub-Saharan Africa.[6]

Oum was invited to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on the occasion of International Women's Day to give a concert on 7 March 2012.[7] In June 2013 she was invited to take part in the Gnaoua World Music Festival in Essaouira (Morocco).[8]

Her song Taragalte, from the 2013 album Soul of Morocco, was used in the 2018 movie Beirut. In September 2015, she released her fourth album: Zarabi, which means "Carpets" in Moroccan Darija and is a tribute to the carpet weavers of the village of M'Hamid El Ghizlane in the Sahara region of the Moroccan South. She wrote and co-directed the album with Mathis Haug. Yacir Rami accompanied her on the oud, Cuban musicians Damian Nueva on double bass and Yelfris Valdés on trumpet, as well as Moroccan percussionist Rhani Krija, who has played with Sting, Peter Gabriel and others, joined her band for this album.[9]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

Lik'Oum[10] (2009)
click [show] to see the tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Intro"1:16
2."Salam"2:45
3."Marrakech"1:25
4."Lik"3:51
5."Shine"4:00
6."Aji"3:59
7."Bahja"10:46
8."Menni Lik"7:38
Total length:35:00
Sweerty[11] (2012)
click [show] to see the tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Bird in Cage"5:57
2."On the Wall"5:36
3."Little Girl"4:03
4."Neddik"6:20
5."Heaven Blue"4:56
6."On the Moon"4:06
7."Whowa"4:15
8."Oum Maysan"5:08
9."Aoulama"4:20
10."Harguin (feat. Blitz The Ambassador)"4:28
11."Love Is Alive"5:09
12."Raver"5:02
13."Soul Trap"6:19
14."Mnama"3:46
15."Oum Song (bonus track, feat. Manu Dibango)"3:38
Total length:72:55
Soul of Morocco[12](2013)
click [show] to see the tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Whowa"4:33
2."Shine"4:55
3."Salam"5:21
4."Lik"4:11
5."Haylala"6:43
6."Mnama"5:15
7."Taragalte"7:12
8."Menni Lik"11:18
9."Aji"7:47
Total length:= 57:00
Zarabi[13] (2015)
click [show] to see the tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Nia"4:33
2."Lia"5:43
3."Hna"4:17
4."Jini"4:15
5."Ah Wah"4:55
6."Wali"4:32
7."Mansit"4:13
8."N'nay"3:56
9."Saadi"4:14
10."Veinte Años"5:10
Total length:45:00
Daba[14] (2020)
click [show] to see the tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Fasl / Season / فصل"4:32
2."Chajra / Chakra / شقرا"3:31
3."Temma / تيما"4:11
4."Daba / Now / دبا"3:46
5."Rhyam / Cloud / غيم"5:34
6."Jnan / جنان (interlude)"0:46
7."Kemmy / You / كمين"3:20
8."Mezzinellil / ميزانيلليل"4:20
9."Ha / Here / ها"3:21
10."Yabhar / sail /يبحر"5:05
11."Laji / لاجى"4:42
12."Sadak / صادق"6:33

Singles[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Oum El Ghait Benessahraoui : son actualité sur France Inter". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  2. ^ Harit, Fouâd. "Oum, la dune mélodieuse du Sahara". www.afrik.com. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. ^ Oum El Ghaït is her first name – it means " Mère de la désert ". Cf. "Oum, le grand mix marocain - JeuneAfrique.com". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 25 April 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mendelson + Oum + Jean Yves Jouannais + Jean-Raymond Jacob du 14 mai 2013 – France Inter". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Oum, la chanteuse de Saoul au look coloré arrive au Maroc !". Maghress. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Sortie Du Nouvel Album d'Oum Intitule Sweerty Le 4 Fevrier Prochain". achnoo.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  7. ^ Yabiladi.com. "UNESCO : La Marocaine Oum en concert le 7 mars à Paris". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Oum, féminin pluriel". RFI Musique (in French). 9 July 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Oum: Zarabi". spellbindingmusic.com. 10 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Deezer". Deezer. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. ^ CD, Lof Music, 2012, no catalogue number
  12. ^ "Deezer". Deezer. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Deezer". Deezer. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Deezer". Deezer. Retrieved 12 February 2021.

External links[edit]

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