Shayfeen 5
Who's really hiding behind Shayfeen; those who are known for making Moroccan Rap the flavour of the day and making it known on the international scene? A Rap & A Cup Of Tea decided to meet these two talented rappers at the Belgian festival Les Ardentes in Liège. In a relaxed and chilled atmosphere, shortly before their concert, Small-X and Shobee (pictured here), who met almost 13 years ago in the small coastal town of Safi in Morocco, have given of themselves, with open hearts, on their more than remarkable journey. Starting from nothing, with an almost non-existent music industry in Morocco, and a difficult road to follow in order to make their passion their profession, the two talented rappers decided to take their destiny into their own hands, regardless of the weight of Maghrebian traditions and customs. It was with honesty that they told us about their social involvement for the Moroccan youth, as well as their passion for Rap, that led them to do featuring work with French Rap icons such as Lacrim, Dosseh, Laylow and recently, Lomepal. How could you describe your particularity in Moroccan Rap to an English audience who is eager to discover you? Shobee: Our biggest advantage in the Moroccan Rap game is that we went through all the generations of Rap and lived through all of its changes. We started out young, and that allowed us to experience all of this, and now we can reference it. It's as if we were the 'children' of the old generation and the 'parents' of the new generation. You are truly inspiring artists; we see it in your lyrics but also in your concerts. I saw you encourage the young people who came to see you to go through with their dreams and never give up. It’s rare to see artists so encouraging; is it important for you to spread a message of hope? Shobee: Yes, exactly, it’s important to us. For us, it has become a mission to push Moroccan youth to reach the end of their ambitions. We ourselves have been able to achieve things that we thought were impossible, and that's why it's so important for us to share a message of hope. Now, let’s get together says it’s important to show that we’ve broken barriers and opened new doors and that this is an opportunity for them, and we want it to be beneficial to the youth and the next generation. Small-X: It’s strong because we started from scratch and started in a small town. We wanted to exist beyond this city and we did everything to succeed. We worked really hard to be known in Morocco.
