Bab L’Bluz Carries Morocco’s Gnawa Legacy For A New Generation

The talented “Gnawa Rock” frontwoman, Yousra Mansour, was shaped by a diverse musical upbringing.

“Led Zeppelin’s show at Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakech, and Jimi Hendrix’s visit to Diabat near Essaouira… My parents actually listened to a lot of hippie music. At home, we would hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Warda, Dhikra, Chaabi, traditional Gnawa, a wide mix of sounds.”

Bab L’Bluz is a Franco-Moroccan rock band blending Gnawa trance, psychedelic rock, and Moroccan traditional music. Formed in Marrakech in 2018, the band is fronted by guitarist and singer Yousra Mansour, alongside innovative multi-instrumentalist Brice Bottin. Their sound merges electric guembri grooves with fuzz-drenched riffs and original lyrics, challenging both musical norms and audience expectations.

Before Bottin ever picked up a guembri, Morocco’s trance musicians were already influencing rock royalty.

Gnawa masters like Mahmoud Guinia, known as “The King,” taught Jimi Hendrix in Essaouira and performed with Pharoah Sanders and Carlos Santana. His family includes generations of spiritual leaders and trance musicians like Zaida Gania and her female-led Haddarate of Essaouira.

Other legends such as Brahim Belkane jammed with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, describing music as finding “colours… to be bright like the sun.” Hamid El Kasri fused northern and southern Moroccan styles, later collaborating with Jacob Collier and Snarky Puppy. Hassan Hakmoun, who began performing at age four in the streets of Marrakesh, went on to work with Peter Gabriel and settle in New York.

Together with other heavyweights like Abdellah El Gourd, who worked with Randy Weston, Archie Shepp, and Johnny Copeland and Abdeslam Alikkane, who brought Berber traditions into dialogue with artists like Gilberto Gil and Ray Lema, these figures formed a bridge between African spiritualism and global experimentalism.

“It’s like Brazil,” Bottin reflects. “They have many genres of music. In Morocco there is Gnawa, there is Shaabi, and other styles, and everyone knows it. In most parts of the world, traditional and folk music has been forgotten unfortunately. I love playing with a man who can be my grandfather or a woman who can be my grandmother and we’re still grooving.”

For Bottin, discovering Morocco was transformative. “I didn’t know anything about Morocco,” he says. “And I discovered a rich… very rich culture. I fell in love with Gnawa music. I played with a lot of Gnawa masters. At this time I used to play a lot of Afrobeat music like Fela Kuti, so it’s the synthesis of all the genres I like but in one instrument. I am speaking about the guembri.”

Their KEXP live session, released in 2025, delivered a thunderous, hypnotic performance that introduced their desert-psych fusion to a larger audience. Their video for “AmmA” is a swirling visual thrill. An electric gateway into their universe of reimagined North African psych rock.

“Many people relate to the image of Morocco like it’s just desert and that there is no sort of evolution or modernity,” Mansour says. “Which is really sad because you have a musical scene, you have an art scene. Not only in Morocco, I’ll say North Africa and the Middle East as well. Because I think we are in the same situation.”

Bab L’Bluz are re-engineering traditional music. With electrified versions of the guembri and other string instruments, they’re carving out a sonic space where North African heritage collides with psych rock energy. Songs like “Karma” highlight this unique blend.

“These instruments really traveled from Africa to the Middle East and across many other countries and continents,” says Mansour. “This is how many new sounds were created.”

To achieve their signature sound, the band had to rethink traditional instruments. “It’s a creation,” Bottin explains. “We first start with the traditional instruments, but when we put effects on, it doesn’t work. So we ask an instrument builder to build some creation for us. It’s more an artisanal guy. He has a website, he’s called Philippe Bern, based in Ardèche, France.”

“He’s crazy about instruments. Each one he makes has a unique sound,” Mansour adds.

Mansour uses her lyrics to reflect life as a Moroccan woman, bridging themes of identity, struggle, and belonging. “Because, truthfully, in these countries, and in much of the world, the music scene is still dominated by men,” she says. “Even though in Morocco there have long been female musicians, singers, and even all-women orchestras, they’re often only appreciated when associated with academic or formal settings, which is often not the case in underground music genres like Gnawa and Chaabi.”

She also makes space to credit both pioneers and rising voices across the Arab world. “The pioneer among emerging artists is Oum. She’s one of the first Arab and Amazigh artists to bring Moroccan music to a whole new level. Then we can mention Jamila & The Other Heroes, she’s half Palestinian, half German, she lives in Berlin. Maryam Saleh from Egypt. Sarab from Syria, a French-Syrian band. And among Moroccan artists, my sister Kamar Mansour, who is 100% based in Morocco.”

As much as Bab L’Bluz are defined by their sound, their message is just as essential. “Our lyrics don’t follow the same themes as traditional Gnawa,” Mansour explains. “Gnawa has its own rich spiritual and philosophical roots, but we sing about more everyday subjects, human rights, women’s rights, universal struggles, and values like diversity and tolerance. For me, as a Moroccan woman, these themes feel urgent and personal. Our messages are broad and contemporary.”

Even with a thriving youth culture and a deep reservoir of musical traditions, Morocco still lacks the infrastructure to support independent artists. Venues are limited, and vinyl culture remains niche.

“There are a lot of festivals in Morocco,” says Bottin, “and Casablanca has some really nice live music venues. Places like KickOff, a nice bar-style venue with an intimate atmosphere, as well as Studio des Arts Vivants, L’Boultek, and L’Usine, all offer great settings for live shows. There are also bigger venues like Megarama and the Grand Theatre of Casablanca. However, for a city as large as Casablanca, there still aren’t enough venues compared to cities like London or Paris. What’s missing are more mid-sized, dedicated cultural centers where musicians can regularly rehearse, create, and develop their projects. Casablanca’s scene is lively, but it could grow much more with spaces like these.”

Mansour adds, “There are venues like KickOff where there are regular concerts of local bands. We don’t have many venues, but there are nice venues.”

On the vinyl scene, Bottin notes, “I came across a couple of really cool vinyl shops in Marrakech, Casa, and Agadir—run by some great guys who really know their stuff. But vinyl is more rare there!”

Still, the duo remains hopeful about the future of Moroccan music infrastructure. “The youth needs a place to express themselves,” Bottin emphasizes. “Just basic stuff.”

Mansour agrees. “I don’t think it’s resistance,” she says. “I think it’s more infrastructure. It’s more financial.”

And while Bab L’Bluz enjoy touring abroad, they hope for more sustainable music economies in the region. “Touring all over the world isn’t just about making a living,” Mansour says. “We do it especially for the joy of discovering other cultures and visiting new places. But it’s also important that the music industry in the MENA region develops, so that local artists can express themselves and their art, make a sustainable living, and also so the region can host international artists and foster stronger exchanges between local and global scenes.”

Despite the limitations at home, Bab L’Bluz has built an international touring life that’s taken them far beyond North Africa and Europe. “We go to Canada and the U.S” says Mansour. “We’ve also been to Australia and New Zealand. Except Asia and South America.”

For Bab L’Bluz, the music is the entry point—but the mission runs deeper. Their very existence as a Moroccan frontwoman and a French bandmate creating original, borderless work together speaks volumes in a divided world.

“Just maybe the only stuff, and because at this time everybody wants to divide people, just the fact that a Moroccan woman and a French guy make stuff together… it’s basic but good to be remembered,” says Bottin.

Mansour echoes the sentiment: “It’s about bringing people together. This is the message.”

With global tours, original compositions, and critical acclaim from platforms like KEXP and Arte Concert, Bab L’Bluz have become one of the most exciting Arab-fronted bands pushing Moroccan music into the global rock conversation. Their fusion of psych rock, afro funk, Gnawa, Amazigh, Hassani and Houara music carries forward the same curiosity and cultural exchange that once brought artists like Hendrix, Brian Jones, and Santana to Morocco. But this time, the lead visionary is Moroccan. And it’s making people around the world want to learn more.