CLICK TO LISTEN Music Biz 1

Every year the brightest new talent from the worlds of hip-hop, rock and jazz fusion from all over North Africa gather in Casablanca for the Boulevard Des Jeunes Musiciens Festival.

The seventh festival opened on 2 June 2005 at the COC stadium in Casablanca with a special night devoted to hip-hop.

Hip-hop culture in North Africa has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Although created by black youth on the street, hip hop's influence has become prominent worldwide.

Approximately 75% of the rap and hip-hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms as well.

Hip-hop has become more popular in Morocco. There are approximately more than 70 hip-hop bands or amateurs across the country who sing in Moroccan Darija language.

As part of the New Africa Season, The Music Biz reported from this special festival discovering the opportunities the festival provides and the challenges these innovative musicians face.

CLICK TO LISTEN Music Biz 2

Baaba Maal has a thrilling voice and an ability to experiment with western styles while remaining deeply, passionately African. He became a singer, even though he came from a family of fishermen, as opposed to the traditional 'griot' (or praise singing) caste in Senegal.

He was brought up in the Fulami Muslim faith, and while still a teenager Baaba Maal was a member of the Dakar's 70 piece orchestra, Asly Fouta. He spent 2 years studying musical theory and composition at the Paris Conservatoire.

Daande Lenol, the name of his band, means 'The Voice Of The Race'. DJ John Peel described hearing the album Djam Leelii as been like "listening to Muddy Waters for the first time"

The Music Biz features a rare interview with Baaba Maal, the internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter from Senegal as part of the New Africa Season. Baaba Maal discusses his new work and his forthcoming appearance with his band Daande Lenol (‘Spirit of the People') at the Proms.