(upbeat music) - [Afua] Africa.

One of the fastest growing parts of the world, and with the youngest population.

I'm Afua Hirsch, a journalist here to discover how young creatives are shaking things up and re-inventing culture in some of the continent's biggest countries: Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco.

Overcoming challenges and re-imagining the past with art, music, fashion, and dance that's wowing the world.

This is an Africa we don't usually see.

Africa on its own terms, and in full voice.

(upbeat music continues) (ethnic music) Morocco, a country of 38 million, and Africa's most popular tourist destination.

Famous for mosques, and medinas, and, more recently, football.

(people cheering) But I'm going beyond the cliches to explore how Morocco's changing, getting the inside track from young creatives who are updating traditions, expressing new ideas and connecting Morocco to wider African culture.

- That was sick!

- My Moroccan journey starts in Marrakesh.

There's something about Marrakesh.

It's just got that X factor.

So I'm just really happy to be back here and, this time, I am coming to meet artists that I could only dream of encountering on other trips.

(bright music) Merci.

I love the fact that this place doesn't change and yet it changes.

There's so many things that are associated with timeless Moroccan culture here: the ceramics, the brass, the lanterns.

But, at the same time, there's always a new modern twist on it every time I come here.

There's no one better to help me understand how old and new are being mashed up in Morocco than Hassan Hajjaj.

He's known as the Andy Warhol of Africa.

His photographs channel the essence of Morocco today for magazines and exhibitions around the world, attracting celebrities like Cardi B, Billie Eilish and Riz Ahmed.

Hassan spent his teenage years abroad.

He used to be a market trader in London.

Now his visual motifs of cool styles are shaping how Morocco is seen by the outside world.

(bright music continues) Hassan!

- How you doing?

- [Afua] Oh, this is so beautiful.

- It's nice to meet you.

- It's really nice to meet you how are you?

- How are you d- I'm good.

How are you doing?

- I'm great, thank you for inviting us here.

- I see, welcome.

- So tell me about this space.

What happened to it?

- So basically called Riad Yima.

Riad is normally, it's a garden.

And Yima means Mum.

- Wow.

- So I kind of named it after my Mom, obviously.

It's open to the public, it's like a boutique gallery and I shoot here as a studio and I live here so.

This what I'm gonna - This is your studio.

- Propose to show you today.

- You're gonna shoot me?

- Yes.

(laughs) So I just put some outfits together, so that the idea is to set out a stage for you and you're gonna dress up and perform and I'm gonna snap some pictures of you.

(upbeat music) - Those gold ones are slightly calling to me.

It's definitely very different from any look that I've ever experienced before.

Okay, I'm ready, I'm ready.

Ooh my God.

This is so cool.

(laughing) - I'm showing you this one.

- You're really not scared of color, are you?

(laughing) No.

You're in Morocco now so you can see.

- Okay.

- Something like this.

This has got, it's got - This is so, ooh, is it from flour or sugar?

- It's couscous.

- It's couscous.

- It's couscous.

Just I was thinking it would be funny to have couscous really there, so.

- It feels like you're having a bit of a laugh at the foreign gaze.

- Yeah, a little bit of fun.

When you meet English friends, they start asking where you're from, and when I say Morocco they say, "Oh, tagine and hashish and, you know, just the Sahara", so it was like, it's really playing on that cliche a little bit.

- So you're kind of owning it and having fun with it.

- It's exactly that.

Quaint.

Yeah, exactly, so just... - I feel elevated.

Feels like a very creative, artistic re-framing of this culture in a way that's playful.

I think what I love about what Hassan's doing is that he's not taking himself too seriously.

He's just having the confidence to own his culture, to understand how it's perceived in the world and to kind of mash it up in a really unique way.

I'm very curious to see how these photos are gonna come out.

(upbeat music) - Hold that like that.

Yeah.

Look at me like, yeah.

(upbeat music continues) Turn your head this way.

There, nice.

So you can take this off.

You can come, come have a seat.

- Change the set up?

- Yeah.

We're gonna change this.

- I've been Hassan'd.

(laughing) The whole thing is just a riot of color and perfectly joyful clashing.

- [Hassan] So I'm basically taking your superhero cap, and now I need Afua.

(laughs) So- - I liked the superhero.

- [Hassan] No, no, youve just been, so now you're Clark Kent.

(musical instrument plays on) - It feels like you are now getting all this recognition as a kind of, like, godfather of contemporary art but you've been doing this for a long time.

Do you feel like the space for art in Morocco has changed during that time?

- I think the game's changed.

I think in the past it was all about most artists from outside the west trying to make it in the west, but now I think it's changed.

I think there's people stars in their own country or region and stuff like that, - Yeah.

- And it doesn't matter- - You don't need the approval of kind of, like, western nations anymore.

You can reach your own audience here.

- I think so.

I think so.

(musical instrument plays on) In the beginning it was difficult because, you know, 30, 50 years ago people really wanted to more, like, to be more closer to Europe, more European.

- But now the younger generation see things differently?

- I think definitely.

Just listen, just listen to the music.

Just listen.

Last 20 years I've seen this really happening in Morocco slowly, and there's a lot of young photographers, art as a music.

It's unbelievable.

- Aah.

Ah, thank you.

- Thank you.

No, really.

You guys, you had fun?

- Thank you.

So much fun.

I could try on outfits all day, but it's time for me to head off and travel deeper into Morocco.

Many people think of Morocco as an Arab country, simply on African soil.

But the African roots of Moroccan culture are everywhere here if you know where to look.

(speaks French) (bright music) I'm leaving the city, heading east over the Atlas Mountains.

Now we're actually right in the Sahara Desert.

It feels like a completely different country here.

So much more remote, so much more sparsely populated.

Such a wild landscape, and this is where there is a concentration of Amazigh people.

Amazigh, from what I know, are considered the indigenous inhabitants of this country, and they are real bastions of much of what has become wider Moroccan art and culture.

The Amazigh used to be called Berbers.

They have a unique African culture.

It stretches back thousands of years to a time before Islam or the arrival of Arab settlers.

(busy chatter) 40% of Moroccans have some Amazigh heritage.

But it's a minority culture with a history of being sidelined.

Amazigh rugs are imitated across the world.

Sara Allaoui, a young entrepreneur, is on a mission to keep traditional rug making alive.

Sara?

- Hi, hello.

- It's so good to meet you.

- Welcome to Tazenakht.

- Thank you.

- Lovely to meet you.

- Wow.

You've brought me to a really special place.

- Yeah, very much so.

So this is the weekly Tazenakht souk where basically the magic happens every week.

- It's definitely lively.

(stall holders call out) And is this where weavers come - Yeah.

- To do their trade as well?

- [Sara] So this is the main destination to buy and sell the rug.

- So how did you come to be in this market in Tazenakht?

- I started a business a couple of years ago sourcing Amazigh rugs but directly sourcing them from weavers.

- Why did you wanna source directly from the weavers?

- So my Grandma was a weaver.

- Oh, wow.

- And when she passed out a couple of years ago, it was just a journey for me to kind of try and understand where I come from because of the stories.

- Aw, sorry you lost her.

- Thank you.

In recent years, there's been a resurgence of the culture.

I think it's due to this generation, our generation, and what we're trying to do is retain that identity that we, that is ancient but is slowly kind of, like, fizzling out.

The weavers in our culture hold our identity through woven textiles.

Each of the symbols holds meaning.

The rugs, typically, you can read them like a book but, essentially, from top to bottom.

(bright music) (speaks in foreign language) - It's quite geometric, isn't it?

- Yes, it is.

So the zigzag is typically a male symbol that signifies virility, so typically you'd find it either on its own or combined with diamonds, and the diamond is the woman's - Female.

- The female body, but it is very much reproduction, fertility, which is such a big thing in our culture.

- Yeah, it kind of, I guess does it reflect what people are preoccupied with?

- Yes, this is we call a (speaking foreign language), a symbol for fending evil.

- Do you wear it like a kind of talisman?

- So similar to the eye, yes, a talisman and luck.

- There's more to this story than a passion for weaving and rugs.

Amazigh activism has been growing in recent years.

The Arab Spring of 2011 is usually seen as a push back against conservative values.

(people protesting) But Amazigh protestors were on the streets too, demanding rights and recognition.

(bright music) Sara's work with rug makers is part of that wider struggle.

(bright music continues) Hello.

(indistinct) This is what you're making.

(laughing) Don't let me stop you.

I would love to see how you- (speaking foreign language) - Shakran.

- Oh, she makes it look so easy and I can tell it's not.

(laughing) - So, do you wanna have a go?

- I would love to.

Okay, I got it.

So I kind of pull it forward.

Ooh, I just broke it.

(laughing) Sorry.

It's actually quite delicate.

(gentle music) Oh, shoot.

- [Sara] It's okay.

They reuse it.

- They reuse it?

- Yes.

- Of course they reuse it.

Oh, you're gonna use that beautiful comb.

Oh, right.

You've gotta put your back into it.

This is what makes Amazigh rugs so special.

The knots are really tightly packed.

So much wool goes into each little square millimeter of rug.

I'm gonna try not to break this one.

Another one?

Okay.

- [Sara] Very good.

- Ah, okay.

Okay, I'm ready this time.

It's just so much labor and everything is just done from scratch with these old natural processes.

I just find it so mesmerizing.

(weavers singing) - [Sara] This generation is looking at everything we have that makes us Moroccan, makes us Amazigh and in fully embracing things that are beautiful in our culture and kind of bring us together so we work collectively to try and preserve it.

- I'm not gifted at this kind of activity as she can see, but I've made a few knots.

I mean I can feel like I've contributed in a tiny way.

Oh shoot, she says, messing one up.

To this beautiful rug.

It's inspiring to see young Moroccans fighting to keep heritage alive.

(upbeat music) Back across the mountains is one of the most exciting stories of tradition meeting the modern world.

Amal Ahamri is the queen of Tabourida.

It's a horse display where teams compete in simulated charges.

(cheering) She's bringing this centuries old tradition up-to-date and smashing the glass ceiling.

Amal leads the first ever female team, winning competitions against the men.

(upbeat music) Maybe against my better judgment, I'm going to try Tabourida for myself.

Amal!

- Ah.

Afua!

- Wow.

- Hi.

So tell me about what you're wearing.

You look incredible.

- So this is traditional Moroccan clothes.

- I see the flag colors.

- Yeah.

It's the Moroccan flag and also the color.

I will give you this.

- Okay.

So I'm gonna get to put these incredible clothes on as well.

- Yeah, like us.

(indistinct chatter) I'm gonna ride in this?

- Yeah.

- But it's white!

(chuckles) (gentle music) Who needs total practicality when you can look this remarkable on horseback?

Getting ready, putting on the clothes.

They're so infused with all this symbolism and nationalism.

- Yeah.

- Cultural pride.

And it really feels like this is part of it.

The ritual.

- Yeah, it's a big one.

Stay here.

(chuckles) - [Afua] Oh, you're not giving me a gun!

Oh my God.

- Yeah because you should have this.

Oh, okay.

- I'm definitely beginner level.

- Your hand up, close to your ear.

Close.

Push it down.

Hi to the public.

Hi to the area.

Hi.

- Tahia - Tahia.

Pay attention.

- Tahia.

- No!

Like this, like this, like this, like this, like this.

Hold that open, and now, woo.

- Woo.

- Without you!

No, same time!

- I'm sorry.

- At the same time.

(bright music) (speaking foreign language) Woo!

(guns fire) (laughing) No problem.

- That was fun.

- [Amal] The black powder is very dangerous.

- [Afua] Gosh.

- But before I never feel scared or afraid.

But when I had my two children, I start to feel that, "Amal, pay attention.

Amal, don't do this".

- Yeah.

- But I love do it.

This is the problem.

This is the problem.

- You can't stop.

- I can't stop.

- I think it's part of who you are.

- Yeah, of course.

- It's your identity, you, the tent, your turkeys.

- Yeah, exactly, this is the word.

It's our, it may be all of Moroccans, it's our identity.

- What's the reaction of men been?

And Moroccans generally to seeing women do this?

- Men try to forbid women to doing this.

- Really?

- Why men forbid us?

- Yeah.

- It's my identity too, so I still do it.

(dramatic music) (horse whinnies) - [Afua] The thought of galloping while holding a gun, it's a bit much for me.

Time for the pros to show me how it's done.

- Woo!

- Whoa!

- Whoa!

(speaking foreign language) For a woman like Amal to insert herself into a really ancient tradition that's been very male dominated, just takes a huge amount of resilience.

(shouts) But it's also relatable because it comes just from this love for her culture, and even though that's really specific and actually I've never seen (people cheering) anything like tabourida ever, I think it is actually a more general phenomenon that's happening here, that people are taking their culture, their history and it is very weighty old history and reinterpreting it and they don't perceive any contradiction between those two and I think that's a lesson for us all.

(dramatic music) (shouting) I'm leaving the horses and heading south in search of more Moroccans being creative with tradition.

It's brought me to the coast, to Essaouira, historic port turned cool surf spot.

(bright music) It's also a cultural hotbed where there's new interest in Morocco's deep links to the rest of Africa.

I'm enjoying Essaouira, really ancient town, all these narrow cobbled streets, jumbled market stalls, the sounds of seagulls, the smell of salty sea-spray, but the reason I've come here is because Essaouira's also the cultural home of Gnawa in Morocco.

Gnawa is the musical legacy of enslaved people brought to Morocco some thousand years ago.

(drums beating) You can clearly hear West African rhythms and words.

(men singing) This is Rabii Harnoune, a young Gnawa master.

Hi, Rabii.

- Hi.

- Hi, nice to meet you.

He's a walking Gnawa library.

He scours Morocco, collecting a repertoire of songs from other musicians.

I'm from West Africa, my mother's from Ghana.

I can hear very West African, Central African, like the drums, the rhythm.

Even the way they're wearing cowrie shells.

- Yes.

Right.

- It looks like it's from Black Africa.

- [Rabii] You're right.

- Rabii is passionate about the old ways, but he's making a name for himself by shaking things up.

(drums tempo increases) (slight applauding) (men singing) - You start learning Gnawa from clapping, and then comes singing with the guys.

- You just pick it up.

- Yeah.

- Rhythm.

- And then step by step you go to karkaba, it's a metal percussion instrument and then comes dancing, and then the guembri is the last thing you learn at the end.

You should collect your repertoire, that's about 200/300 songs so- - That's incredible.

Are you gonna join in with them?

- Yes, yes.

I will, I will.

Let's do it.

(all singing and clapping together) - I'm totally new to Gnawa but it's really immersive and hypnotic.

It's also amazing how Rabii just jumped in, he just seemed to know exactly what was happening.

He's never played with these musicians before.

It's obviously a language that people from different parts of the country, who've grown up in this tradition, learn how to speak.

(carry on singing) Gnawa music is a delicate thread, connecting Morocco to Africa beyond the Sahara.

Rabii's plan is to keep Gnawa alive by reinventing it.

He's been collaborating on a fusion of Gnawa and electronic music with German producer, VB Kuhl.

(music plays) (both singing) (applause) - That was amazing.

It's such a vibe.

It just feels like your whole styles have, like, really gelled together, you know, like it was made for each other but you're actually coming from quite different traditions.

- Very different.

I don't know, it was more like an accident I would say.

(laughing) - [VB Kuhl] It's also Rabii, he can understand this kind of beats.

This is very, very important.

- Yeah, I see that.

It's definitely like a two-way flow.

- Rabii can play, let's say, three more songs, or four more songs to the same beat and he change a little bit here and there and uses the repertoire and so we go back and forth and, yeah, it goes on.

It's like you said, a DJ mix.

- Yeah.

- Electronic with this old, old music which is crazy.

- Right.

Yeah.

When he plays a beat, I go to my library and look which song which fits and then just play it.

- So then it really helps that you know the entire repertoire by heart.

You literally have the library - Yeah, yeah.

- In your head.

Do you enjoy, like, mixing it up in a more contemporary way like what you're doing with VB?

- I like to do the traditional way only with karkaba, but I also like other genres of musics.

I like to play on different beats.

The hip hop beat or we can also use a funk beat and I like to adapt my guembri lines to this.

It's a challenge for me to do it, and I have fun to do that.

- Yeah.

It looks fun.

It sounds gorgeous and it, you hear it differently, actually, when it's with a beat like this.

You see like a different side to the music.

- Yeah, I enjoy doing it.

Yeah.

Let's play something different in the same beat.

- Yes.

- Okay.

(they play together) (singing) (upbeat music) - The next morning, and Rabii's Gnawa rhythms are still running through my head.

Such an intriguing blend of old and new.

(upbeat music continues) Thank you so much.

(indistinct chatter) I have heard just experiencing Gnawa that deep ancestral connection to the rest of the African continent.

I can hear sounds that take me back to my travels in Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and it makes sense.

This is one continent.

Its history has been one of constant conversation, invasion, trade, inter-marriage.

Gnawa is the glue that binds these histories together.

(upbeat music continues) Rabii's not alone in exploring the African connection.

There's a new pride I felt here.

Younger Moroccans are looking at their history and future as part of Africa.

(cars horns beep) And then, as I stay overnight in the capital Rabat, it feels like a moment for Morocco and the continent is unfolding outside my hotel.

(whistles blowing) (people cheering) Gradually, it's become harder and harder to avoid the fact that Morocco is making history in the World Cup.

We've just seen the quarter final match where Morocco beat Portugal, making it the first ever African nation to go through to the World Cup semi-final.

It's actually emotional and the atmosphere here is ridiculous.

Everyone has headed out to the streets.

They are sitting on top of their cars, they're waving flags, they're chanting.

I have no idea what it's gonna mean for the long term future of Morocco, and Moroccan pride, Moroccan sport, but right now it's just an atmosphere of pure joy and, what luck that it just happens to be when we're here telling the story.

(car horns blare) Beyond the football, change is in the air.

Morocco is still a conservative Islamic country in many ways, but you sense it's also looking to the future.

(upbeat music) Women artists are spear-heading debate around sex and gender.

Majida Khattari is the godmother to this movement.

She's famous on the global art scene for work on controversial topics.

She often plays with what she sees as stereotypes of Moroccan woman as erotic and submissive.

By taking old images and reworking them.

(upbeat music continues) Today she's starting a new project about female sexuality in Islamic societies.

Majida.

- [Majida] Hi.

- Hi, how are you?

- [Majida] Fine.

Fine.

- Have you just started working on this today?

- Yes.

(laughs) - Are you inspired by this painting here?

- Yes.

(speaking foreign language) - So I'm not going to interrupt you.

Please can I watch for a bit while you finish the painting?

- Yes, yes, of course.

- Thank you so much.

This is an imagine taken from a really classic book that was first published in 1850 called "The Enchanted Garden".

It's by this Tunisian author who was really celebrating sexuality within Islamic traditions.

Well these things feel like very modern ideas and I think Majida is really reminding people and educating people about how this is actually deeply part of tradition in Muslim countries.

Majida's process is fascinating and multi-layered.

I'm interested to see how her sketch will become part of the photo shoot.

Majida's making a few subtle changes to the original image, one of which is the table ornaments which are quite pedestrian in the original image of being upgraded to a slightly more erotic, even phallic look.

Have you always been interested in these themes of sexuality, relationships, intimacy?

- Yes.

It's very interesting.

(laughing) - It's very interesting, yeah.

(speaking foreign language) - It feels like a slightly scary subject but you seem so free and comfortable with it.

(speaking foreign language) (upbeat music) - [Afua] So what happens next, now you've finished this?

- A photo.

- A photo?

- Yeah.

- But before the photo, Majida's work takes an unexpected direction.

I'm apparently key to the whole piece.

(upbeat music continues) I feel regal.

I don't think I've ever worn a crown tiara.

Head jewels or a veil.

(indistinct chatter) (upbeat music continues) And now for the final staging of Majida's masterpiece.

(women singing) (speaking foreign language) I could never have imagined this.

I wish my imagination stretched this wide but I'm inside Majida's world.

Yeah, this is unlike anything I could have anticipated, more elaborate, more ornate, more layered and complex.

More visually rich and seductive.

I mean it's just a total feast for the senses and the intellect because there's a lot going on.

(gentle music) (speaking foreign language) (speaking foreign language) - Oh, wow.

The whole scene, it looks unreal, with the painting behind.

Okay, now I see the whole vision.

Are you happy?

- Yes, very.

- Is this what you wanted?

Thank you.

(speaking foreign language) Oh, oh my goodness.

That's a very lovely thing to say.

Majida says I'm the ideal model for her.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - It's one of the best compliments I've ever been paid.

(laughs) Majida's such a pioneer.

Not just as a female artist from Morocco, from the Arab Muslim world, but also as somebody who's been tackling those still controversial questions about the past, the way that cultures like Morocco have been seen by the West and stereotyped, romanticized, and what I found so inspiring about Majida is that she talks about an artist's responsibility to really open up those questions, even if they're uncomfortable, even if they are controversial, that that is the role of art is really to open up dialogue where dialogue didn't exist.

(chanting) There's been a feminist revolution in Morocco recently with some big advances for women on marriage and sexual rights, and a new generation of women artists are taking a more direct approach to what they see as an unfinished battle.

(upbeat music) That's what's brought me to Casablanca, Morocco's biggest city.

Busy, modern, it's the place to be.

I've come here to meet some artists who represent a new generation.

Young women who are questioning the structures underlying Moroccan society through their art.

So let's see what they have to say.

(upbeat music continues) Zainab Fasiki is a sensation.

Daring and provocative.

Her recent graphic novel, "Hshouma", means shame and has shaken up Morocco.

Its nude images, a full frontal attack on conservative values.

- [Zainab] This is my studio where I- - Oh, wow.

- Where magic happens.

- Wow!

(Zainab laughing) Okay, I really feel like I'm in your world now.

(upbeat music continues) - As you can see, I defend woman rights in my work.

Body freedom.

It's a shame to be a woman.

It's a shame to be free in our own body so I'm trying to correct ideas.

- I see that.

So your images, there's a lot of, it looks like women just being comfortable in their skin, celebrating their bodies.

- [Zainab] It's actually me and my body.

- [Afua] Oh, it's all you!

- And it made a lot of people angry, like, - Really?

- How dare you draw yourself.

You should not.

It's hshouma.

I was, like, "Okay, a book is needed just to explain my comic book".

It's also a sexual education guide.

A queer and secular one.

- I mean that's quite contentious everywhere, but in a country that still has a lot of conservative Muslim ideas, - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- That sound quite radical.

- When I first started to sign in book stores around Morocco, it was always crowded with parents with their kids coming "Oh, we finally have someone."

- So there are a lot of people who want this?

- It's the first book ever that will openly defend abortion and sex outside marriage, changing laws in an open way.

- Is it illegal to have sex outside marriage in Morocco?

- Yes.

- Still?

- Yes.

It's illegal to have sex outside marriage.

It's illegal to be gay.

It's illegal to do abortion and it's all because of national cultures.

- So you're working on new books.

I would love to see how you create these images.

(upbeat music) - [Zainab] It's just like drawing on paper, like.

- [Afua] So what image are you creating here?

- I'm just drawing a 16-year-old girl who is forced to get married.

- I can already see she's looking sad.

Like there's gonna be a lot of sad facial expressions for this girl.

(upbeat music continues) This is really incredible to see how you've just created this girl, and she's such a real person already.

Have you seen a change?

- There are a lot of changes like, and you know what, this is what keeps me really motivated every morning to wake up and continue working because I can tell you that ten years ago, when I first published one of my naked portraits, everyone was angry but today, when I do it, people are just, like, they are fed up, they've seen enough naked bodies.

Like I'm really proud of the fact that I published so much naked bodies that men today are like, "Okay, we get it.

This is all a mistake".

- They're desensitized.

- "We're not going to harass that body, we'll respect it".

- I feel like that says more about your relentlessness than it does about the society.

- Yeah, yes.

So it's part of the change is to never give up.

(gentle music) - Yeah.

- I'm trying to change a culture that lasted for about 12 centuries in North Africa.

I know I'm not gonna change things with a book over two years or three years, it's a matter of generations.

- Wow.

That's it, it's done.

You did that so quickly.

- Thank you.

- Wow.

I can't believe how fast you work, and I love it.

It's very evocative.

- Yeah.

(gentle music continues) - I think Zainab's story is one of things that haven't changed in Morocco, the things she's fighting against; patriarchal beliefs and values that keep girls and women in an unfair position, but it's also a story of what has changed because I think it would have been impossible to do what she's doing in the quite recent past.

She's seen messages that were really radical and really dangerous almost to express now be kind of tolerated, if not enthusiastically received.

So it does give me a sense that Morocco is a country in transition.

It's exciting to see young artists like Zainab fired up about creating change.

And my final stop is to meet someone who brings so many of the changes I've seen together.

(singing in foreign language) Rym Fikri is Morocco's newest pop superstar, and a glimpse into the future.

This is her confessional debut.

Without a major label behind her, she got her song out on YouTube last year and went viral overnight, catapulting 22-year-old Rym to instant fame.

I'm invited in to watch her finish off her latest hit.

(counts her in) (Rym singing) - Nice?

(speaking foreign language) - Hm.

That sounds so nice.

(singing) (speaking foreign language) - [Rym] Yes.

- They've still got work to do to finesse this but the one thing that's coming across in abundance is that Rym has a beautiful voice.

It's like honey.

(Rym sings) Rym's success makes sense.

She's got that Gen-Z appeal.

She's raw and honest, and doing it completely on her own terms.

Rym, can I ask you what you're singing about in the lyrics?

- So the first song, it's just about me and my past.

The loss of my father.

I wrote it when I was depressed.

- Pretty depressed.

- [Afua] Yeah.

- I was really, yeah.

Uh huh.

- I think that's why people really gravitate towards you, 'cause everyone can relate to going through - Exactly.

- Hard times if you're honest about it then everyone will be able to relate to what you're singing about.

- I always do everything with emotions.

I like to write some lyrics that people can, you know, feel.

- I've watched some of your videos and even though I can't understand the lyrics, I can feel the emotion.

- Yes, exactly.

- The way you sing, the way you perform, the way you connect with your audience.

Why is it important to you that it should come from your heart and your lived experience?

- Because it's me and, you know, like, people, they love you when you are you.

- Authentic.

- Yes, when you are authentic.

So I can't just lie and sell an image that is not mine.

I wasn't expecting, like, - The success, of course.

- The success of the song, like, I was just- - Your first song had, like, 20 million views!

- I was just hoping one million, you know, - Just one million!

- Yes!

(they both laugh) - So now you've gotta find this hook?

- [Nabz] That's what we're trying to do right now.

(music plays) (sing to each other) (speaking foreign language) (song plays) (speaking foreign language) (Rym tries it live) - That was sick!

- They were looking for this missing hook, and they literally just came up with it and it was actually quite electric to see because it was very collaborative.

They both came up with this idea together, and Nabz started singing it, and then Rym started singing it.

And as soon as I heard her sing it, even I could feel that it was like the missing layer to make the song really pop.

- [Nabz] That's it.

We're just gonna finish the song.

Woo!

- Well done.

That sounded dope.

(they all applaud) - Actually, we did it.

No.

- I love that you love it as well.

- [Rym] Yes.

- I could see you're so happy with it.

- I, yeah.

actually, this one for me I believe in it.

I think that it could be a hit.

- [Afua] Thank you for sharing this with me.

- You're welcome.

- It was very special to see you guys create live.

- Maybe if you hadn't been here, there wouldn't be a song like this.

- (gasps) I mean I'm glad you said that.

I was hoping you might.

- Honestly.

- I don't wanna take any credit at all, but I did feel part of this.

(laughing) - [Nabz] You did.

I'm giving you.

(upbeat music) - I'm leaving Rym's studio on a high.

Her song sums up the youthful energy of Morocco's culture right now.

Her career feels like the product of a society that's changed.

It's been incredible to see young Moroccans updating their past with pride, and women artists pushing boundaries.

But the biggest revelation has been hearing how Moroccans see themselves.

(cheering) It's been abundantly clear to me, through all my travels across Africa, that this is a continent in the midst of a cultural renaissance.

But I was less clear about whether Morocco saw itself as part of that story.

So close to Europe, with very strong ties to the Middle East and the Islamic world, but also on African soil.

But what I found is a new generation of artists and creatives who are unapologetically associating themselves with what's happening everywhere in Africa, and that has been really refreshing, and fascinating and, for me, absolutely joyful to see.

(Rym's song continues) (electronic tones)