Larbi Batma, Nass el-Ghiwane and Postcolonial Music in Morocco

Established in 1971, Nass el-Ghiwane is a legendary musical group that transformed the Moroccan music scene in the last decades of the 20th century. The charismatic founding member Larbi Batma (1948-1997) through his lyrics brought to light Moroccan folklore and obscure poetry. His autobiography Al-ral, blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction and deals with social issues plaguing post-independence Morocco. Providing a reading of Al-ral, this book is the first in English to examine the work of Nass el-Ghiwane, as well as the emergence of al-ghniya al-Ghwaniya as a musical genre and the social conditions that fostered its growth.