Moroccan heartthrob Saad Lamjarred’s smash hit ‘Lm3allem’ breaks record on YouTube

By Saneela Jawad

Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has done it again.

The 30-year-old heartthrob’s hit song Lm3allem (the boss) has officially broken YouTube, having racked up 9 million views in a week, and now, two months later, has garnered more than 64 million views, breaking the YouTube record for Arab music.

Nicknamed the ‘Arab Julio Iglesias’ by Lebanese composer Elias Rahbani after he appeared on the popular reality show Super Star in 2007, Lamjarred’s music has come a long way since then. Despite coming in second that year and disappearing for two years due to a lack of support from the music industry, Lamjarred has proven that real talent cannot be ignored.

After launching his first single in 2009, which he funded with his own money, he continued to climb the charts in the region, was nominated for an MTV Europe Music Award in 2014 and won Best Arabic Song at the Lebanese Murex d’Or awards.

Appealing to both international and regional audiences through its Arabic lyrics and unmistakable Moroccan cultural traits infused with modern dubstep and techno, Lm3allem is hard not to love.

The catchy music video is also the second Arabic song to make its way into the record books after Emirati singer’s Hussein Al Jasmi’s song Boshret Kheir.’

The son of well-known singer Bachir Abdou and popular actress Nezha Regragui, Lamjarred started singing at the age of four when he used to sing his father’s songs. Today, the stylish Moroccan artist has a huge loyal fan base from around the globe, a massive social media following and thousands of women falling head over heels in love with his unique voice, signature sunglasses, well-groomed facial hair and knack for seamlessly blending modern music with a traditional touch.

“I worked hard for something and I’m getting the good stuff now,” said Lamjarred in an interview with Al Arabiya.

Merging Arab culture with western music genres like rock music is not easy.

“Merging styles in this way requires a lot of effort and a great deal of knowledge of both the local musical heritage and the style being adapted,” writes Shireen Abdo in Al-Araby. “It requires an artistic vision that may lie in the lyrics or the nature of the tunes. Whatever the degree to which these standards are achieved, they will make or break the merger.”

Through his latest viral hit, Lamjarred has proven to be a brilliant example of that perfect blend, adding on to his already booming popularity in Morocco and the Middle East and expanding his reach to a much wider audience internationally.

Best put by the man himself, he sings in his viral hit:

“You fly in the heights; we can never reach you dear.

You’re the boss and from you, we learn.”

Comments

comments