Samir Langus on Morocco's Musical Landscape

After our trip, I caught up with our old friend Samir Langus of the New York-based band Innov Gnawa. Innov Gnawa, led by Langus, has been invigorating Gnawa in New York, carrying on the songs and traditions of the music while also innovating and allowing it to evolve. They recently have collaborated with electronic music producers Bonobo and Nickodemus, performing on the big stages at Coachella Music Festival and Red Rocks in Colorado with Bonobo.

Samir LanGus: Gnawa Healing & Trance Music from Agadir, Morocco.

Langus has performed at Lincoln Center, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl, Barbès, and Terminal 5, as well as the Kennedy Center, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and the Coachella Festival.

“When I hear the song “Dawini_,_ ana gharib wa birani” [Heal me, O God, I am a stranger in a strange land]—the words the slaves sang centuries ago—I tear up, I think of home,” Samir Langus, a twenty-three-year-old instrumentalist for InoGna, told me. “But you don’t need to speak Arabic to be moved by this music. It’s the music of the poor, the excluded who couldn’t afford to go to the big conservatories to study Andalusian poetry—their suffering is in rhythm.”

Afropop Premiere: Samir Langus' "Mimouna"

Afropop is thrilled to premiere "Mimouna" by Moroccan Gnawa musician Samir Langus. Langus is part of the NYC-based Moroccan Gnawa band Innove Gnawa. He was born and raised in Agadir, Morocco where at the age of 8, he began to learn Gnawa music.

Morocco Dispatch No. 2: Samir Langus' Gnawa Vision

Although he was raised in an Aïssawa (another Moroccan tradition that uses the ghaita and bendir instruments) family, Samir became fascinated with Gnawa, a style of Sufi music that comes from former slaves in Morocco.

Samir LanGus: Gnawa Healing & Trance Music from Agadir, Morocco.

Langus has performed at Lincoln Center, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl, Barbès, and Terminal 5, as well as the Kennedy Center, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and the Coachella Festival.

Morocco Dispatch No. 2: Samir Langus' Gnawa Vision

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Although he was raised in an Aïssawa (another Moroccan tradition that uses the ghaita and bendir instruments) family, Samir became fascinated with Gnawa, a style of Sufi music that comes from former slaves in Morocco.