A morning of sorting and preparing audio tracks (and a quick swim at the campsite of course). We head into town for our meeting with AbdelJalil Kodssi, a well known Gnawi Melem (master) who has been resident in Barcelona for 20 years and is now back in Marrakesh after some gigs in Italy. He missed his flight and therefore has had no sleep and nothing to eat for 48 hours. We therefore let him off his slightly abrasive manner and decide to call him the next day, post the Ramadan feast! We then hit 'la hora loca' (the hour before the fast is broken) in Djema el Fnaa and it is totally mad. Talk about culture clash. Tourists, performers trying all sorts of (aggressive) tricks to get as much money out of you as possible, and crowds of very hungry, sweaty, thirsty good Muslims gasping for sunset. We half talk about getting out of Marrakesh as soon as possible but decide to give it a second chance.
We call Amin, friend of Fatiha (Ayesha's wax woman) and he brings along Rhizlaine to the Glacier Cafe terrace overlooking Djema el Fnaa. She is a godsend and gives us contact details for all the up and coming hip hop acts in Morocco. We call Komy (of Brada and Fnaire) immediately and he jumps at the chance. Ahhh thanks Marrakesh!
DAY 20
We head to Komy's French girfriend's house and film him rapping a snippet of one of the songs from his upcoming album. We have a full day ahead but Komy is very professional and well-prepared. We then head to his family home and go up onto his terrace for a fantastic 360 degree view of the rooftops of suburban Marrakesh. He records a couple of raps, fill ins and shout outs in the gorgeous golden light. "Everyone knows that our problem is that nobody listens, let us sing so we can empty our hearts".
One hour before sunset and we fit in an interview (in Darija with French summaries !!!) We are all fried but happy with the results. We break the fast with the whole family and feel very privileged to share this moment with them.
9pm and exhausted, we call AbdelJalil on the off-chance he has had a change of heart and he agrees to meet us for an interview. He is a relaxed and cooperative interviewee who says some lovely things and we are glad to have recorded him. We hope to have the chance to record him back in Barcelona, pending permission from Ventilador Records, of course.
We head out of the city and pull of the road to sleep under the shade of some trees.
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