Moroccan Internet users have launched a campaign to boycott a concert by French rapper Booba because of his "degrading words towards Moroccan women" in several of his hits. An online petition to cancel the show, scheduled for June 21 in Casablanca, collected nearly 4,000 signatures on Thursday April 6. "Moroccans felt offended to learn that rapper Booba was going to perform in Morocco," reads the introduction to the petition, which has the primary objective of reaching the bar of 5,000 signatures.
Very popular in Morocco, Booba (Elie Yaffa of his real name) is implicated for having made "degrading remarks towards Moroccan and North African women" in certain songs. This is the case of E.L.E.P.H.A.N.T, a title where the star raps: "Little Moroccan fucks Berlusconi", in reference to a Moroccan nicknamed Ruby who had participated in the "bunga bunga" parties of the former Italian "Cavaliere" while she was a minor. But also, in Génération assassin, when Booba sings: "I go to the chick only for the beurettes".
"Shame... We can't welcome a guy who doesn't respect us," reacted a surfer on Twitter, where the hashtag
The Islamist opposition party Justice and Development (PJD) joined the controversy this week by demanding the cancellation of the concert in a written parliamentary question addressed to the Minister of Youth and Culture. Contacted by AFP, the organizers of the concert did not respond. In 2017, Booba performed in one of the most important festivals in the country, Mawazine-Rythmes du monde, in Rabat. It had then drained 100,000 spectators, according to local media.
