The young members of Moroccan singing group Darga bring together local and foreign rhythms to form their unique sound. Marked by observant lyrics that offer a critical view of social conditions in the country, their music appeals broadly to the younger generation.

Magharebia spoke with Darga on the sidelines of the recent Maroc Hit Parade festival in Rabat.

Magharebia: What is the secret behind the success of youth music in recent years in spite of limited financial means?

Darga: It's a matter of strong determination to achieve success. These music groups consist of young people who want to innovate and prove their worth in the field of music.

Magharebia: What about your own experiment?

Darga: We chose the name 'darga', which means cactus, a plant that is patient in all conditions. When we first started, we had no financial capabilities whatsoever to create a music group. At that time, we depended on small amounts of money from our own families. We also used to borrow equipment and musical instruments from our friends, as is the case of many other groups. Our journey to reach what have achieved now was very difficult, and now we are just relatively satisfied with our success.

Magharebia: Did the recent political openness in Morocco help you spread in this way?

Darga: Yes, it did, although there is no total cultural openness - it's only in its beginnings. We think that the fruits of our effort and hard work to expand the scope of this openness will be reaped by the groups that will come after us, because by that time, the conditions will be better as compared to the conditions we lived under.

Magharebia: The lyrics of your songs are characterised by a touch of severe criticism. Don't you fear that this will create animosity with the authorities? Darga: We know the limits of artistic creativity and the limits of the scope of freedom. Yet, we don't practice self-censorship when we write our lyrics. We are only criticising the prevailing social conditions, given that our priorities are to make the social and economic conditions of individuals their best. Therefore, we are only reflecting the living conditions of the poor classes.

Magharebia: What is the reason behind the great success of the song "chomera" (unemployment)?

Darga: The song tackles a universal problem. The reason behind its success is that young people feel the depth of its words because many of them are living in unemployment, which is the biggest problem for that category of people. The song tells the story of a person from birth, through his education until he finally finds himself before the building of the parliament taking part in a protest with other educated people who are demanding the right of employment.

Magharebia: There are many musical programmes in Moroccan media outlets these days, as well as many musical festivals. Can't listeners get bored?

Darga: We don't think so, given that cultural openness is a new thing in Morocco, from the last ten years. The fact that there are many events is a positive thing, as they give fans the chance to attend a big number of these musical events. All that they have to do is to choose the works that suit their tastes.

Magharebia: What is your position on other groups' use of obscene language in their songs?

Darga: We can't prevent anyone from using this type of word in the framework of freedom of expression. There are some people who use such language in their work, saying that the words are used on a daily basis in the street, and thus, there is nothing that should prevent their use in songs. In addition, these songs are circulated in markets and are not imposed on everyone.

Magharebia: You rely heavily on reggae beats in most of your songs. Is that a permanent or a temporary choice?

Darga: In the past, we used to depend too much on reggae rhythms as this type of music had an impact on most of the members in the group. However, now that some members were changed, we will use other rhythms. In our next album, we will tackle the Algerian heritage in the framework of the cultural interaction between the two countries.

Magharebia: What do you think about Algerian-Moroccan relations now?

Darga: Relations between the two countries must return to normal because we are brothers and there are family bonds between us. Algerians adore the way we speak, our country's songs and we do the same about theirs. The former harpist in our group was the son of a mixed Algerian-Moroccan marriage. The two peoples can't be separated however deep the differences between them are. Our next album includes a song entitled "haduk" in which we address the points of agreement between the two countries, and it's like a call for tolerance and brotherhood.

Source: Magharebia.com