Rabat – Gnaoua master Hamid El Kasri joins forces with Issawa Salim for a rare shared performance on April 30.
The show will take place at the Zénith Center Rabat at 8 p.m., turning the venue into a space of collective rhythm and deep musical trance.
On one side, the grounding pulse of Gnawa: hypnotic, spiritual, and rooted in centuries of African-Moroccan heritage.
On the other, the explosive ceremonial energy of Issawa, known for its fast percussion, chants, and ritual-driven intensity.
Together, they promise a performance that moves between meditation and celebration, where repetition becomes release and rhythm becomes shared language.
Hamid El Kasri is one of the most iconic figures in contemporary Gnawa music.
Recognized globally, he is known for his commanding voice, deep spiritual presence, and mastery of the guembri.
His style preserves the traditional roots of Gnawa while pushing its expression onto major international stages, making him a key ambassador of Moroccan musical heritage.
Gnawa music itself is a spiritual tradition rooted in African-Moroccan history, built around hypnotic bass rhythms, call-and-response chanting, and ritual performance structures that are often linked to healing ceremonies and trance states.
On the other side, Issawa Salim represents the Issawa tradition, a centuries-old Sufi-inspired brotherhood known for its vibrant and highly rhythmic performances.
Issawa music is characterized by powerful percussion, collective chanting, and a ceremonial atmosphere that often builds into high-energy, ecstatic moments during live gatherings.
Together, Gnawa and Issawa represent two distinct but deeply connected strands of Morocco’s spiritual sound heritage, one rooted in trance-like depth, the other in explosive communal celebration, making this upcoming meeting in Rabat a rare cultural crossover.
