{
  "slug": "nass-el-ghiwane",
  "name": "Nass El Ghiwane",
  "description": "Nass El Ghiwane appears 3 times in our Gnawa and 1976 lists, placing as high as No. 4. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-30",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/nass-el-ghiwane/",
  "appearanceCount": 3,
  "distinctRecordings": 2,
  "years": {
    "first": 1974,
    "last": 1976
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 4,
    "list": "Gnawa"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "gnawa",
      "name": "Gnawa",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/gnawa/",
      "entries": 2
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "nineteen-seventy-six",
      "name": "1976",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/",
      "entries": 1
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "nass-el-ghiwane--ya-sidi",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nass-el-ghiwane--ya-sidi/",
      "title": "Ya Sidi",
      "year": 1974,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Not a gnawa group, and unthinkable without gnawa. Nass El Ghiwane put the guinbri and the ceremony's rhythms into protest songs, and Morocco has not sounded the same since.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nass%20El%20Ghiwane%20Ya%20Sidi",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ2_sQuAFE4",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 4,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "gnawa",
        "name": "Gnawa",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/gnawa/"
      },
      "artist": "Nass El Ghiwane"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "nass-el-ghiwane--bouderbala",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nass-el-ghiwane--bouderbala/",
      "title": "Bouderbala",
      "year": 1976,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Scorsese called them the Rolling Stones of Africa, which undersells the strangeness. Percussion, a banjo, and lyrics old enough that nobody is sure who wrote them.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "nineteen-seventy-six",
          "name": "1976",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nass%20El%20Ghiwane%20Bouderbala",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Nass%20El%20Ghiwane%20Bouderbala",
          "exact": false
        }
      },
      "rank": 5,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "gnawa",
        "name": "Gnawa",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/gnawa/"
      },
      "artist": "Nass El Ghiwane"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "nass-el-ghiwane--bouderbala",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nass-el-ghiwane--bouderbala/",
      "title": "Bouderbala",
      "year": 1976,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Gnawa rhythm and Moroccan poetry played by a group Scorsese later called the Rolling Stones of Africa. Recorded with almost no Western instrumentation in a year when that was a choice, not a limitation.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "gnawa",
          "name": "Gnawa",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/gnawa/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nass%20El%20Ghiwane%20Bouderbala",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Nass%20El%20Ghiwane%20Bouderbala",
          "exact": false
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "nineteen-seventy-six",
        "name": "1976",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/"
      },
      "artist": "Nass El Ghiwane"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}