‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE II’ is the new album from the majestic duo of Moroccan Gnawa-master (maâlem) Rabii Harnoune and Frankfurt electronic producer V.B.Kühl. Melding traditional North African Gnawa music with funky, soulful modern club sounds (perfectly demonstrated on V.B.Kühl’s recent HÖR Berlin session),‘Gnawa Electric Laune II’ is a more defined follow-up to the duo’s debut. The birth of the ‘Gnawa Electric Laune’ concept resulted in a fascinating cross-cultural record that won over the likes of Gilles Peterson (Winners 2020), Tom Ravenscroft (BBC 6Music), Songlines and many others, for its electric and otherworldly bridge from old to new.
All songs on the new album weave Gnawa folklore culture into its lyrical themes and conceptual approaches. Singles on ‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE II’ include lead-track “Aisha”, a tale about the mythological female figure renowned as the greatest woman of all time. “Laafou” is about the end of suffering for a majestic singer Bilal Ibn Rabah al-Habashi, hand-picked by the Prophet Muhammad himself and “Koyo Koyo”, a term for the righthand man of the Gnawa master who learns to play the Qarqaba (also know as Krakebs, an iron castanet-like rhythmic musical instrument).
‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE II’ sees the duo change up their creative approach, cementing originality at the core of the record, as Rabii explains: “Our first album was like writing on an empty piece of a paper, but the second is like turning the page and pushing the boundaries further. We´re not starting every song from a traditional Gnawa piece and then putting music around it like we predominantly did on the first album. We used different ways to create new tracks, like composing from scratch with traditional parts or using existing tracks like we did with our first single Aisha.”
V.B.Kuhl adds: ”The first album was the door opener and now we´re trying to create even more original ideas, combining old and new in a soulful way. Rabii also used more quotations of old poems and writings to put the lyrics together. The second album is more open in creation and it's a bit more beat driven than the first one. It's still a fusion of different cultures and we're trying to find our own way of expression and building bridges. It's an adventure.”
Album opener “Maya” lays the cultural and political foundations of the record, a song where Rabii pays respect to his old master Abdellatif El Makhzoumi (“god rest his soul”) but also opens up on the struggle and journey that catalysed Rabii to “burn his visa” while touring Europe, in order to propel his musical career. For the past seven years, Rabii has been living as an illegal immigrant in Germany, with everyday life made uncertain due to his status. Opening up about the horrible ordeal Rabii says: “It is difficult to summarise these last 7 years on a few lines. It was one of the most difficult experiences I have had. I was at a refugee camp while recording this album, I felt like my Master was singing this song for me, or about me, while there.”
Elsewhere on the record “Jilani” aka ‘crown of knowers’ tells the story of the leader in Sufi philosophy Abdelkader El Jilani Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Kilani, while “Samaoui” explores the sanctity of water in Africa and “Gazelle” is a homage to a famous piece of desert music that deals with love of the beloved. V.B.Kühl’ diverse knowledge of electronic music playfully cements the music into a Gnawa-fusion framework, such as his addition of downtempo four-to-the-floor grooves to Rabii’s Gumbri on “Samaoui”; the influence of dark bass music and the use of a vocoder seeping in on “Quazar”; and the crossover of rockabilly and hip-hop beats on the infectiously catchy “Sofi”. As V.B. perfectly summarises “Gnawa meets beats in a soulful fusion! The Journey continues…”
Gnawa music is among Morocco’s richest and oldest continuous traditions, dating back to pre-Islam. Rabii Harnoune joined the Kotab, a place where one can learn the teaching of the Quran, at the age of four.
Growing up on a household diet of classical Arabic, Moroccan and Sufi music, Rabii was first introduced to Gnawa through his neighbour’s uncle who was a master in the genre. “Gnawa music was exclusively played by families whose parents came from Sub-Saharan or Central African tribes to Morocco in colonial times” Rabii explains, “it was rare to be able to listen to Gnawa music on radio, so I started to collect rare live recordings”. Rabii’s mastery at the Guembri, a three-string lute and Gnawa singing (a central aspect to the culture), would lead him to play world-class festivals in Essaouira, Fes, Marrakesh and Casablanca – all spiritual centres for the genre.
V.B.Kühl realised his own musical vision and ambition when he inherited his first ghettoblaster (boombox) and bought a four-track recorder: “rhythm is deep in me, and although music is not my profession, the passion never stopped”. V.B.Kühl caught the attention of DJ Shadow with two stellar remixes, which would later lead to commissioned remixes by Tru Thoughts for acts such as Anchorsong, Lakuta and more recently sUb_modU. Alongside his recent HOR Berlin live stream, V.B. has released an EP on South African label Afrinative Soul.
All songs on the new album weave Gnawa folklore culture into its lyrical themes and conceptual approaches. Singles on ‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE II’ include lead-track “Aisha”, a tale about the mythological female figure renowned as the greatest woman of all time. “Laafou” is about the end of suffering for a majestic singer Bilal Ibn Rabah al-Habashi, hand-picked by the Prophet Muhammad himself and “Koyo Koyo”, a term for the righthand man of the Gnawa master who learns to play the Qarqaba (also know as Krakebs, an iron castanet-like rhythmic musical instrument).
‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE II’ sees the duo change up their creative approach, cementing originality at the core of the record, as Rabii explains: “Our first album was like writing on an empty piece of a paper, but the second is like turning the page and pushing the boundaries further. We´re not starting every song from a traditional Gnawa piece and then putting music around it like we predominantly did on the first album. We used different ways to create new tracks, like composing from scratch with traditional parts or using existing tracks like we did with our first single Aisha.”
V.B.Kuhl adds: ”The first album was the door opener and now we´re trying to create even more original ideas, combining old and new in a soulful way. Rabii also used more quotations of old poems and writings to put the lyrics together. The second album is more open in creation and it's a bit more beat driven than the first one. It's still a fusion of different cultures and we're trying to find our own way of expression and building bridges. It's an adventure.”
Album opener “Maya” lays the cultural and political foundations of the record, a song where Rabii pays respect to his old master Abdellatif El Makhzoumi (“god rest his soul”) but also opens up on the struggle and journey that catalysed Rabii to “burn his visa” while touring Europe, in order to propel his musical career. For the past seven years, Rabii has been living as an illegal immigrant in Germany, with everyday life made uncertain due to his status. Opening up about the horrible ordeal Rabii says: “It is difficult to summarise these last 7 years on a few lines. It was one of the most difficult experiences I have had. I was at a refugee camp while recording this album, I felt like my Master was singing this song for me, or about me, while there.”
Elsewhere on the record “Jilani” aka ‘crown of knowers’ tells the story of the leader in Sufi philosophy Abdelkader El Jilani Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Kilani, while “Samaoui” explores the sanctity of water in Africa and “Gazelle” is a homage to a famous piece of desert music that deals with love of the beloved. V.B.Kühl’ diverse knowledge of electronic music playfully cements the music into a Gnawa-fusion framework, such as his addition of downtempo four-to-the-floor grooves to Rabii’s Gumbri on “Samaoui”; the influence of dark bass music and the use of a vocoder seeping in on “Quazar”; and the crossover of rockabilly and hip-hop beats on the infectiously catchy “Sofi”. As V.B. perfectly summarises “Gnawa meets beats in a soulful fusion! The Journey continues…”
Gnawa music is among Morocco’s richest and oldest continuous traditions, dating back to pre-Islam. Rabii Harnoune joined the Kotab, a place where one can learn the teaching of the Quran, at the age of four.
Growing up on a household diet of classical Arabic, Moroccan and Sufi music, Rabii was first introduced to Gnawa through his neighbour’s uncle who was a master in the genre. “Gnawa music was exclusively played by families whose parents came from Sub-Saharan or Central African tribes to Morocco in colonial times” Rabii explains, “it was rare to be able to listen to Gnawa music on radio, so I started to collect rare live recordings”. Rabii’s mastery at the Guembri, a three-string lute and Gnawa singing (a central aspect to the culture), would lead him to play world-class festivals in Essaouira, Fes, Marrakesh and Casablanca – all spiritual centres for the genre.
V.B.Kühl realised his own musical vision and ambition when he inherited his first ghettoblaster (boombox) and bought a four-track recorder: “rhythm is deep in me, and although music is not my profession, the passion never stopped”. V.B.Kühl caught the attention of DJ Shadow with two stellar remixes, which would later lead to commissioned remixes by Tru Thoughts for acts such as Anchorsong, Lakuta and more recently sUb_modU. Alongside his recent HOR Berlin live stream, V.B. has released an EP on South African label Afrinative Soul.
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