(b Salé, 1918; d ?Salé, 7 Sept 1951). Moroccan singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. He first gained notoriety performing in halqāt, the performance areas of public markets. Travelling with one or two percussionists and a violinist with whom he played the gunibrī (long-necked lute) and the snītra (banjo), he became quite well known across Morocco in the 1930s. His success in halqa performance brought him to the attention of Pathé-Marconi, whose scouts took him to France to record in the 1930s and 40s. Recording and radio exposure expanded his popularity, allowing him to tour France as well as Tunisia and Algeria.
Slaoui's songwriting and performance style was heavily influenced by the work of Būjum‘a al-Farrūj, a Moroccan singer from the Tafilalt. Slaoui recorded several songs of Farrūj, including Ayyāmnā (Our days) and Yā mouj ghannī (Sing, O waves). In recordings Slaoui introduced many new instruments to Moroccan sha‘bī (popular) song; he broke stereotypes by using the ‘ūd (lute), an instrument associated with Middle Eastern and Arab-Andalusian classical traditions, to play songs of the halqa, and also featured the qānūn (zither), the clarinet, the claves, the piano and the accordion. In French cabarets he was exposed to other North African musical traditions, and he subsequently incorporated material from the Tunisian maqām repertory in songs such as Yā ghrīb lik Allah. Another innovation was the topical nature of his lyrics, which sometimes took the form of humorous yet sharply critical observations about contemporary Moroccan society; songs such as Hadi ras'ek (Watch your head) and Al-amīrikān (The Americans) addressed the impact of wartime rations and American soldiers on daily life.
A. Benabdeljalil: ‘Al-mūsīqā al-sha‘biyya al-maghribiyya’ [Moroccan popular music], al-Funūn [Rabat], v/1 (1978), 48–71
A. and M.E. Hachlaf: Anthologie de la musique arabe, 1906–1960 (Paris, 1993)
Documentaire du chanteur marocaine l-Houcine Slaoui, Radiodiffusion Television Marocaine documentary, dir. A. Bennour (Rabat, c1998)
TIMOTHY D. FUSON