Norfafrica’s Mixtape Spotlights Overlooked Rappers in North Africa

Norfafrica, an open-source collective dedicated to spotlighting the overlooked rap scene across the North African region, has recently released its first mixtape, ‘The Norf Tape’.

‘The Norf Tape’ is a product of a two-year DIY artist residency that brought together a mosaic of up-and-coming and emerging rappers from across North Africa, from Morocco, Tunisia and Libya to Alegria, Egypt and Sudan. The residency took place in the deserts of Marakkech, where these artists had been able to develop their sound.

Originally founded as an online music hub in 2019, Norfafrica quickly grew into a pioneering collective nurturing and promoting artistic developments across the North African region, ‘’Our mission is to highlight urban youth culture across borders and disciplines, and above all else foster a sense of community,’’ Norfafrica tells SceneNoise, ‘’We aim to facilitate a lot of collaborations, and open opportunities of cultural exchange between North African artists worldwide.’’

The mixtape encompasses 16 tracks in different Arabic dialects, covering various sounds and subgenres of hip-hop as well as subject matters, giving a platform to rising rappers, who have yet to achieve commercial success, as well as established talents, in equal measures. A two-step Jersey club fusion appears on tracks like ‘Drogues Bilel’, featuring rising Moroccan rapper Raste and French artist Biaziouka, whilst ‘Aljazeera’, featuring Sudanese rapper Mvndilla, is more of a guitar ballad, The compilation also features contributions from established rappers like Ziad Zaza, Ka7la, and Savage Plug.

‘’This is a celebration of our people, how we exist in reality. Unfortunately, we are taught to see our culture as something that is in a glass case in our parents' house –not belonging to us and not meant to be touched. We reject that. We want to re-center ourselves as the culture.’’ Norafrica tells SceneNoise, ‘’We also wanted to untie the regions’ scenes beyond the man-made borders. We have a lot to gain through connecting with one another.’’