Appeal to Moroccan Expatriates

By Jamal Laoudi

The name Batma is synonymous with the legendary North African music band Nass ElGhiwane. It has been nicknamed the Rolling Stones of North Africa in a French documentary Producers by Michel Chanderli and Souheil BenBarka. Some of their songs were featured in the film The Last Temptation of Christ and on the associated album Passion. The late Larbi Batma is considered one of the pillars of the band. Their songs addressed many topics most notably political and social injustices in a time when that was a risky undertakings. Hamid Batma, Larbi’s brother, is known to have been very involved in the song making process. He himself formed his own band called Masnawa and is now a member of Nass ElGhiwane. Hamid Batma is also the father of Dounia Batma, an upcoming Moroocan Artist who finished first running up in the singing competition Arab Idol. In the video below, Larbi Batma appeals to the Moroccan diaspora to work more closely with Moroccan artists among other things.

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