Building identity: a creative process
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Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui |
TEDxMarrakesh
• March 2019
Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui, better known as Oum, is a Moroccan singer-songwriter. Considered an ambassador of Moroccan culture she mices hassani, jazz, gospel, soul, afrobeat and Sufi music influences in her songs.
Oum, who grew up in Marrakech is a soul singer. Yet, her style remains unique since it's highly inspired by influences such as the Hassani poetry (Moroccan desert culture) and African rhythms.
Oum studied at the National School of Architecture in Rabat for six years. Her first album Lik 'Oum was released in May 2009. In September 2015, she released her fourth album: Zarabi which means "carpets" and it is a tribute to the carpet weavers of the village of M’Hamid El Ghizlane. Her song Taragalte from the album Soul of Morocco was used in the 2018 movie “Beirut”.