Morocco and North Africa’s top singer, Saad Lamjarred, has made history as his hit single ‘Lmaallem’ has exceeded one billion views on Youtube, thus becoming the first Arab song to break such a record on the streaming platform.

After Lamjarred dropped the hit song, his fans led a fierce campaign on social media networks with the aim to promote the artist’s hit song to reach one billion.

Released in 2015, the song is one of the best known in Lamjarred’s repertoire and has caught up with a large foreign audience with several music enthusiasts and non-Arabic speakers around the world covering the song.

The music video of ‘Lmaallem’ which means ‘The Boss’, features 50s-style decoration and clothes, portraying a mixture of Morocco between the past and the present.

The hit song had previously earned a Guinness World Record in 2015 for reaching close to 23 million views three weeks after it was first uploaded to Youtube.

‘Lmaallem’ was the second Arabic song to ever make its way into the record books after UAE singer Hussein Al Jasmi’s song Boshret Kheir.

Kenyan boy band, Sauti Sol, has threatened to drag former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, and his presidential campaign team, ‘Azimio La Umoja One Kenya’, for alleged musical copyright infringement by using one of their songs, “Extravaganza,” as a soundtrack during the unveiling of NARC Party leader, Martha Karua, as the coalition’s running mate.

In a statement issued by the popular band’s management team on Monday, the group claimed that the action taken by Odinga’s Azimio’s campaign team infringed on their right to property as is “guaranteed in Article 4 of the Constitution of Kenya.”

“It has come to our attention that the Azimio la Umoja campaign through its flagbearer and presidential candidate, the Right Hon. Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga’s social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) have without license nor authority used one of our more popular original compositions, “Extravaganza,” as a soundtrack to the announcement post of the running mate,” part of the statement read.

The music group added that the action of the former Prime Minister who is running for President in August presidential election, has infringed on their fundamental rights to property and freedom of association.

“We are disappointed by the Azimio La Umoja Campaign’s blatant disregard of our right to control the use of our copyright. We shall be seeking legal remedy for this clear violation of our copyright,” the band management maintained.

However, Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in a
statement released on Tuesday, stated that its decision to use one of Sauti Sol’s popular songs during the naming of its running mate was an appreciation of the group’s success.

“We would like to assure our celebrated musical team, Sauti Sol, that we love them & appreciate their music so much. The group has carried our country’s flag so high in international fora and every Kenyan appreciates this. Playing their song was a show of love for their work,” ODM stated.

The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) has also faulted the Odinga campaign team, saying it erred in using Souti Sol’s song during the unveiling of Karua as the presidential running mate.

In a statement on Tuesday, KECOBO noted that “Azimio only obtained a Public Performance License that allows them to play both local and international music at its rallies and events which is issued by the Collective Management Organisation, but the use of sound recording with a soundtrack with visual images in a film, video, television show, commercial, or other audio-visual production was not part of the license that was obtained by the Raila Odinga-led faction.”

The song, “Extravaganza” was released in 2019 where the group featured a number of artists including Nviiri, Bensoul, Crystal Asige, and Kaskazini and shot them to international limelight as we as placing the group among the most sought after musical acts from Africa.

Burkina Faso hopes to position itself as an emerging fashion hub as it concludes the third edition of the “Ouaga Fashion Week” in Ouagadougou.

The Director of the event, Alex Zabsonre said the show featured 35 designers — chosen from about 200 applicants — from West Africa and Europe, who showcased their outfits in the capital city, Ouagadougou.

The 2022 “Ouaga Fashion Week” had for the first time in the history of the show, the majority of designers, about 75%, were from Burkina Faso.

“Burkina is one of the African countries that have a lot of potential to offer as far as fashion is concerned … That is the reason why I set this project up, to expose Burkina designers and get them recognized at the international level,” he said.

Many of the designs featured Burkina Faso’s traditional, handwoven Faso Dan Fani cloth made from cotton. Burkina Faso is a top–10 exporter of cotton, accounting for an average share of 3 percent of global exports since 2000.

Fashion in Burkina Faso, if effectively explored, particularly with its endowment in cotton could offer the West African country some form of solace and become a core area of comparative advantage for it in the comity of nations. But Ouagadougou must first get healed of the growing plague of insurgency and general insecurity before it could scale commerce and industry.