Local authorities in Casablanca have refused to authorize a Booba concert, scheduled for June in the Moroccan megalopolis, amid calls for a boycott that accuse the French rapper of sexism.
The prefecture of Casablanca-Anfa, where the show is to take place on June 21, "notified a refusal to organize the concert but without giving any justifications", a senior executive told Agence France-Presse (AFP). organization on condition of anonymity. "We are still negotiating with them [the local authorities]," he added.
Very popular in Morocco, Booba (Elie Yaffa of his real name) is implicated on Moroccan social networks for having made "degrading remarks towards Moroccan and North African women" in some of his songs. A call on the networks for a sit-in against his arrival, scheduled for Friday in Casablanca, did not materialize, noted an AFP journalist.
"The concert was not authorized by the Casablanca authorities, so the sit-in in front of the wilaya [prefecture] was no longer of interest," the "Moorish" identity movement told AFP. origin of the call to demonstrate. "We are just watching how the situation develops and we will not hesitate to rearrange a [sit-in] if necessary," the same source warned.
Complaint from an association of lawyers
In a video posted on Twitter on Monday, the rapper said he was "waiting for news from the concert in Morocco". “Normally it is maintained. If it were canceled, it would be really regrettable,” Booba said, accusing Moroccan-born French rapper Maes and Maître Gims, who resides in Morocco, of being behind the boycott campaign.
Maes, a former Booba protege, had urged his Twitter followers to sign a petition to cancel the show in Casablanca which has so far garnered nearly 4,500 signatures. The Club of Lawyers in Morocco, a professional association, filed a complaint against Booba "for defamation and insults against Moroccan women", confirmed to AFP its president Mourad ElAddi, without further details.
Among the songs decried by the rapper: "E.L.E.P.H.A.N.T", title where the star raps "little Moroccan fucks Berlusconi", in reference to a Moroccan nicknamed Ruby who had participated in the "bunga-bunga" evenings of the former president of the Italian council when she was a minor. But also "Génération assassin", when Booba sings: "I go to the Chiche only for the beurettes. »
