Karima Skalli

I find it extremely telling about the current sorry state of the Arab artistic taste and popular culture, that Ms Hayfa2 Wahbi is a household name in every Arab country, while very few Arabs have ever heard of the extremely talented Moroccan singer, Ms Karima Skalli.

Recently, I was privileged to attend a concert by Ms Skalli , were I enjoyed two hours or so of great "tarab". Karima was really smart to launch the concert with Asmahan's beautiful song "3alih salat Allah w salamo". By doing so, she immediately captured the attention and admiration of the audience, despite my guess that most of them, including moi, had never heard her lovely voice before that memorable night. Karima then took us on a wonderful voyage of flawless melodies that spanned the Asmaham heritage, the Andalusian tradition, the Moroccan folklore, and finally an Um Kalthoum spiritual ballad. She was called for an encore, and sang a beautiful contemporary Moroccan song.

After the concert, I was invited to attend a dinner in her honor. Chatting with her made it clear that the charming beauty and angelic voice belonged to an amiable and extremely modest soul.

Visit Karima's website, and enjoy listening to clips of her songs by clicking here.