Cheb Bilal will have looked for it. Initially planned for this Saturday, October 19, in parallel with the National Apple Show in Midelt, the holding of a concert by the Algerian singer triggered a tsunami of criticism on social networks, accompanied by a shower of calls for boycott, illustrated by hashtags #BoycottChebBilal and others #CancellationConcertBilal.
This virtual outcry came in response to the repeated slip-ups of the raï star, once adored by the Moroccan public. The latter criticizes him for his recent outings in the Algerian media, where he made often derogatory, sometimes offensive comments about Morocco. As a result, faced with the extent of the controversy, the organizers of the show had to remove his name from the programming, replacing it with that of Moroccan singer Saïd Senhaji.
Cheb Bilal, whose real name is Bilal Mouaffak, has long enjoyed great popularity in Morocco, multiplying dates in cities like Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir, and performing concerts at festivals in the Kingdom. With, at stake, more than comfortable fees amounting to millions of dirhams.
Doublespeak and excuses
However, the one who readily recognized that his biggest fan base was in Morocco did not hesitate, once back in Algeria, to denigrate the Kingdom and criticize this country which always warmly welcomed him through a loyal audience …and substantial fees, most often paid, as required by the artist, in cold, hard cash.
Already in 2016, he caused an outcry by declaring, during an interview on an Algerian channel, that he had “notnothing to do with Moroccan nationality“, unless she “gives access to everything for free“. The incomprehensible statement led to his absence from Moroccan stages for three years, until the flat apologies he presented during the Jawhara festival in 2019.
More “chase away the natural, it comes back at a gallop“, says the adage. In 2022, do it again. While the Moroccan football selection made the whole world dream with its exploits on the fields of the Qatari World Cup, Cheb Bilal is careful not to applaud its performances.
Better, when asked, on the set of an Algerian TV show, which team was his favorite during the competition, the singer simply replied that, the Algerian selection being absent, he was going to encourage… the French team , who were then preparing to face the Atlas Lions in the semi-final. A surprising declaration that must have been little appreciated by the many Moroccans humming “Bad business”, “Dani Dani” or “Vive Nous”.
These ambiguous behaviors have become the central element of a vast movement on social networks, a real “shitstorm» pointing out the double-talk of Cheb Bilal and his ingratitude, and calling on Moroccan concert organizers to draw a red line by excluding from any artistic manifestation those who lack respect for the country.
In this regard, this spontaneous campaign did not fail to raise a situation that was at the very least incongruous: while many Algerian artists perform all year round in Moroccan festivals and performance halls, often in return for incredible checks. , Moroccan artists are almost excluded from the Algerian scenes.
Indeed, very few Moroccan artists are able to perform in their eastern neighbor, and the Algerian authorities even prohibit the broadcasting of Moroccan songs on the radio or on television, going so far as to crack down on authors of a “accidental release».
According to the latest news, Cheb Bilal plans to organize a press briefing, during which he could present apologies again – more or less sincere given his background. But everything suggests that said apologies, even repeated, could no longer be enough to allow the Algerian singer to reconnect with his Moroccan audience. Suffice it to say that his future (re)appearances on the stages of the Kingdom are now hypothetical…
