Nabyla Maan - a flower yet to bloom

In Western countries, teenage singers are not surprising anymore, and underage female popstars have already become "a norm". Seeing a young (really young, I mean!) female singer in North Africa or the Middle East is, however, rather unusual. The new Moroccan generation breaks these stereotypes and singer-songwriter Nabyla Maan is probably the finest example.

Nabyla hails from Fes, a city that is sometimes called "the spiritual center of Morocco". Her debut album ("D'nya") was released when the singer was only 17 and the title track became a big hit in Morocco. Although a bit too teenager-ish for my taste, the song is quite catchy and sounds rather unique in the Moroccan context. Nabyla's debut album also includes a contemporary version of "Allah Ya Moulana" by the legendary Moroccan group "Nass El Ghiwane".

Although it was "D'nya" that brought her success (it even has a video clip), it's not her most noteworthy number. Speaking of her debut work, I would highlight two tracks, an entirely instrumental album-opener "Morok'oh!" and "Hina Kalat", a song written by her father. "Morok'oh!" is indeed very "oriental", like a walk through the Moroccan medina, full of colours and flavours. "Hina Kalat", which is in my eyes her best song so far, comes as a rather melancholic Arabic-style piece with a brilliant ending. Listening to her voice, you can obviously guess that the singer is very young. However, Nabyla has a lovely timbre and she can actually sing, in contrast to many other teenage "stars" worldwide.



From traditional Arabic motives in "Iwa tkellem" or "Kannadi" to flamenco influences in the title track, from salsa mood in "Limala ouhib" to electric guitars in "La takoulli" or "Ya rouhi", the album is quite pleasant to listen to, but the feeling that "something's still missing" almost never goes away. Nabyla's work incorporates a wide range of influences (even hip-hop), but the Spanish one clearly prevails, it is present in almost every song. In general, the album is quite cohesive and in fact a bit too samey. Nabyla's voice sounds more developed, however, the production itself is at times a little bit under-developed. I would name "Iwa tkellem", "Ter el ali" and "Kannadi" as the strongest or at least most memorable tracks.

As for my taste, the arrangements of most Nabyla's songs could be much better. The Spanish element is OK, but one has to be rather cautious with it, or otherwise it will sound a bit tasteless. Below is a video with Nabyla singing "Ter el ali" live. After seeing this video, I'm sure to say that I would prefer Nabyla performing in acoustic style to her rather poppy studio versions, which - in my eyes - somewhat lack soul.


Shortly speaking, Nabyla is without doubt a talented and promising artist, but she hasn't revealed her full potential yet. On the other hand, having in mind her tender age - everything still lies ahead. Looking at Nabyla's works so far, I would say that it will be interesting to observe her further progress - I hope she won't stop at her current stage and continue producing new music. Especially when she is probably the only artist of this kind in Morocco today.