Rabat, Friday April 12th 2019: Since its creation, the Mawazine Festival-Rhythms of the World declares each year its love for the continent and its talents. Its 18th edition, placed under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, will remain faithful to this passion, since the best of the African scene will be once again on the mythical Bouregreg stage. On the menu: a new panorama of what Africa has to see and listen to.

The opening concert will be one of the highlights of this program, giving the tempo to a rich week. On Friday June 21st, the public will get to see BCUC. This unique South African band navigates between free jazz, hip hop origins and the balanced energy of James Brown. With BCUC, it is also the memory of Fela Kuti and its afro-beat cocktail made in Lagos.

On the evening of the next day, Saturday June 22nd, will be just as electric. Coming from Kinshasa, the Kokoko group full of energy will perform for the first part. Composed of musicians and visual artists, this group excels in electronic music, which it reinvents with recovered instruments. Maya Wegerif, aka Sho Madjozi, will then take over for a performance that looks ecstatic. Proud of her roots and committed neo-panafricanism, the South African rap artist will sing in xitsonga and swahili, releasing her flow on the synthetic rhythms of a musical style that is raging in Durban.

On Sunday June 23rd, it is the great Kery James, a figure of French rap, who will deliver a performance without concessions. Militant, the Haitian native will perform his latest album, J’rap encore, and the lyrics that have made his success since the release of his first title in 1992 at the age of 15!

The group of African Amazons will be honored on Monday June 24th. Comprised of eight divas in the fight against violence against women, this group brings together the continent’s greatest female voices: Kandia Kouyaté, Mamani Keita, Rokia Koné, Angélique Kidjo, Nneka, Mariam Koné, Mouneissa Tandina and Pamela Badjogo. Whether Malian, Beninese, Nigerian or Gabonese, each will sing to raise public awareness on the fight for women and the barbarities they are victims of.

On Tuesday June 25th, festival-goers will experience a musical odyssey with Delgres, a group of three French musicians including singer Pascal Danaë, from Guadeloupe. Taking its name from a hero, the group explores buried roots in search of personal and intimate blues.

Rich of her dual African and European culture, on Wednesday June 26th,  Youssoupha will be one of the headliners on the Bouregreg stage. Whoever dominates French rap with his words and his freedom of speech will handle words like no one, with a conscious rap inspired by his youth and life in the suburbs.

On Thursday June 27th, another phenomenon will take place: the great Kamasi Washington, saxophonist from Los Angeles and standard-bearer of the new jazz west coast, will arrive with his group of virtuosos for a concert which will mix jazz, funk, free, soul, blues and rock. An explosive mix that makes this musical UFO an icon across the Atlantic.

On Friday June 28th, the Togolese singer Peter Solo and his group Voodoo Game will create a surprise with a music that resurfaces the sound of afro-funk, which marked the history of African music in the 1970s. On voodoo harmonies, the group will reveal another image of this ancestral culture, where nature and its elements hold a fundamental place.

Finally, the Bouregreg will vibrate on Saturday June 29th to the sounds of Koba LaD compositions, who prevailed in the hexagonal rap at the age of only 19 years old. With his freestyles and hits, the singer already has millions of views on YouTube. A new sensation whose last album, VII, released in late 2018, has already been certified gold.