The Best North African COLORS Performances
The Berlin-based platform’s music archive features a variety of hip-hop, soul, rap and instrumental performances from North African artists.
Under the slogan “All Colors, No Genres,” Berlin-based COLORSxSTUDIOS has created a world stage for the best emerging music across the globe. Showcasing live performances against a monochrome backdrop, the music platform, which began as a startup co-founded by Philipp Starcke and Felix Glasmeyer in 2016, has propelled many talented artists to international success.
Beyond establishing itself as a cultural touchstone of careful music curation in the age of algorithms, COLORS has become a space for conversations that bridge the gap between aesthetic culture and the socio-political contexts in which many artists create.
While COLORS’ minimalistic stage intends to shine a spotlight on the artists and their music with no distractions, there is something distinctive about choosing to be represented by a color and, by extension, a feeling.
In 2019, when the Sudanese people took to the streets and overthrew longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, COLORS hosted three Sudanese artists as part of a wider campaign called “Blue for Sudan”. Gaidaa, Flippter and Sammany Hajo performed songs for the revolution in a studio lit up in “Mattar blue,” the favorite color of Sudanese martyr Mohamed Mattar, which became the symbol for the December Revolution’s media campaign, inspiring people across the world to learn about what was happening in Sudan at the time.
North African artists, especially those hailing from Morocco and Sudan, have brought their distinctive sounds to the COLORS stage for years. Here’s a selection of their best performances.
Sammany - “Matalib” (Sudan)
Qatar-based Sudanese artist and producer Sammany was the first artist to appear on COLORS for Sudan, performing “Matalib” (“Demands”). “Being a Sudanese person outside of Sudan, at first I felt really helpless,” he tells COLORS. “I didn’t feel like I wanna make any music… And then someone reached out to me and said ‘you know how much we love your music in Sudan... if you make something that reflects what’s going on in Sudan, we’ll play it.” Next, he saw videos of millions singing along to his songs.
ElGrandeToto - “Weld Laadoul“ (Morocco)
The leader of Morocco’s hip-hop scene, ElGrandeToto performed “Weld Laadoul” (“the son of the adel”) in dedication to his family. He tells COLORS: “My grandfather was an adel — a public official in Morocco — and the song is a reference to my father and his brothers. They were called ‘the sons of the adel,’ a nickname that was lost with our generation... In a poetic way, adels simultaneously represent justice and injustice. I feel I’ve inherited my grandfather’s adel side by always putting justice into my own hands.”
TIF - “Nothing Personal” (Algeria)
Representing Algeria but dedicating his COLORS debut to Palestine (“Prisoner in the open air, open, open / Yeah, a bit like in Palestine”), Paris-based artist TIF performs an acoustic-led rendition of “Nothing Personal.” TIF, who left Algeria for France eight years ago and rose to prominence with his debut album, 1.6, infuses his music with nostalgic blends of chaâbi, French and Arabic rap and Andalusian music.
Flippter - “Blue” (Sudan)
Sudanese rapper Flippter gives a politically charged performance of his previously unreleased single “BLUE.” “For me the color blue is personal,” he tells COLORS. “This basically was the color of my boy Mattar, may he rest in peace... It got spread all over the world as a resemblance of all the Sudanese martyrs who sacrificed their lives for a better Sudan.”
Nadah El Shazly - “Bānit” (Egypt)
Producer and vocalist Nadah El Shazly gives a stunning performance of “Bānit,” sharing with COLORS that growing up in intense and loud Cairo got her into “very loud music.” About “Bānit” she says, “The song is almost like a spell. I wrote it last winter in -25 degrees in Montreal. I sat in my home studio, blasted 3Phaz’s beat, wrote, and thought intensively about the strength that I have to keep going no matter what. It’s a song about finding a witty inner voice, and summoning spirits to find the strength to do so.”
Zamdane - “Mélancolie criminelle (Piano by Sofiane Pamart)“ (Morocco/Algeria)
Born and raised in Marrakech, France-based rapper Zamdane delivers a heartfelt performance of “Mélancolie criminelle” alongside famous Algerian French pianist Sofiane Pamart who has his own impressive COLORS show “I.”
Bellah & Gaidaa - “As You Are” (Sudan/Nigeria)
Netherlands-based Sudanese artist Gaidaa has performed on COLORS three times, first raising awareness about the revolution in Sudan with her song “Morning Blue,” followed by an Encore with “Let Me”, and finally with British Nigerian artist Bellah. The two artists were introduced to each other’s music through COLORS; in their words, “As You Are” is a reminder to “sing the song in the mirror [as a] proclamation of love to yourself.”
Manal - “3ARI” (Morocco)
Singing “to the one who has stabbed my back, to the one who has deceived my shame,“ on “3ARI,” Moroccan pop star Manal continues to speak about the experiences of women in Moroccan society, addressing taboo topics that are often silenced. “3ARI is a song that I’m offering to women so that they don’t have to be afraid anymore,” she tells COLORS. “So that violence doesn’t seem like something normal.”
Elmiene - “Endless No Mores“ (Sudan)
British Sudanese soul singer and songwriter Elmiene shares an exclusive unplugged version of “Endless No Mores,” a song that came to life in the beginning of his career. “I was scared that I was gonna lose myself before music,” he tells COLORS. “A big part of my life is my religion, I’m Muslim. So when I was singing that song I was feeling like, ‘Oh man, am I losing my faith?’ It was very much a letter to my God. Like: Please come back to me and never leave.”
Alewya - “Ethiopia” (Egypt/Ethiopia)
London-based Ethiopian Ethiopian artist Alewya sings an ode to her mother’s homeland, channeling its essence and spirituality. “I just want everyone to tune into what Ethiopia really is as a land,” she tells COLORS. “I think that those [spiritual] methods [and approaches] are really accessible for everyone to take on, particularly Africans.”