Saad Lamjarred

Saad Lamjarred
Background information
Native name	سعد بشير لمجرد
Birth name	Saad Bachir Lamjarred
Born	(1985-04-07) April 7, 1985 Rabat, Morocco
Genres	Arabic pop Moroccan pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano, drums
Years active	2007–present
Website	http://saadlamjarred.ma/

Saad Lamjarred (Arabic: سعد لمجرد‎; born April 7, 1985) is a Moroccan pop singer, dancer, singer-songwriter, actor and record producer.

Early Life

Lamjarred was born to Bachir Abdou, a Moroccan classical singer, and Nezha Regragui, an actress and comedian.^[1] From an early age, Lamjarred had a special interest in playing the piano, as well as singing as early as the age of four.

Lamjarred then went on to study at the Conservatory of Music in Rabat, where he studied music, art theory and dance. He would perform many productions where in he would collaborate with his father.

Career

In 2007, Lamjarred took part in Super Star, a widely popular Arab talent TV show, and was placed second^[2] in season 4 of the series that was won by the Tunisian Marwan Ali. His participation earned him recognition.

In 2011, Lamjarred started his acting career, playing the male lead in Ahlam Nassim, a Moroccan soap opera. He released an album in 2013, titled Wala Aalik. That same year, he released two more albums, namely Salina and Enty. The title song of the latter, "Enty Baghya Wahad", became one of Lamjarred’s biggest hits and earned him an award at the Méditel Morocco Music Awards 2014,^[3][4][5] as well as a nomination for the Best Middle East Act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[6]

Lamjarred was also nominated for the Best Middle East Act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[6] He won the Murex d'Or in the category of "Best Arabic Song" for his 2014 song "Enty Baghya Wahad".

The music video for Lamjarred's 2015 hit single, "LM3ALLEM" (Arabic: لمعلم‎), earned a Guinness World Record achievement after garnering 500 million views on YouTube within three months of release.^[7][8] As of September 2018, the video is the most viewed Arabic video on YouTube, garnering more than 670 million views.

A year later, Lamjarred released another single titled "Ana Machi Sahel" (Arabic: أنا ماشي ساهل‎), which he soon followed up with a black-and-white music video released on YouTube that features dozens of Lamjarred's fans, who have filmed themselves singing along to the song at home, in their cars and out and about.^[9] Lamjarred didn't wait too long to release another single by the name of "Ghaltana" (Arabic: غلطانة‎) in the form of a video clip directed by Amr Rouani. The video caught eyes because of its Wild West, gritty feel, inspired by Rouani's childhood love of Mad Max films.^[10]

Following this success, Lamjarred's music production took a brief gap while he was on trial in Paris for "sexual assault",^[11]but soon made a come-back with his August 2017 comeback titled "Let Go". It was an immediate hit, it earned about half a million views on YouTube within an hour of its release.^[12]. Lamjarred later released new hit songs such as "Casablanca" and "Ghazali" after serving prison time for rape

Personal life

Lamjarred leads a very private love life, but has confirmed rumours that he was once married, and divorced around 2015.^[13]

Rape allegations and investigations

In February 2010 while visiting the US, Saad Lamjarred was accused of beating and raping a woman from Brooklyn, New York. Lamjarred fled the United States after posting bail and risks being arrested if he returns.^[14] The case was dropped in 2016, after the accuser "stopped cooperating with prosecutors" and reached a settlement in a lawsuit.^[15][16]

Lamjarred was arrested at the Marriott Champs Elysées at the 17th arrondissement of Paris on October 25, 2016, where he appeared before a French prosecutor to face the charges about an alleged sexual assault against a French woman.^[14][17] He was scheduled to perform at the Palais des congrès de Paris on October 29, 2016. Lamjarred was released in 2017, but still faces charges.^[18] In early 2017, he was "prohibited from performing in public, traveling and speaking to media".^[16] The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, helped him cover his fees and hire a legal team.^[15][19] In 2017, a French-Moroccan woman accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse at an apartment in Casablanca, Morocco, back in 2015.^[15][19] She later withdrew the complaint "under pressure from her family".^[19]

On August 26, 2018, he was once again arrested in Saint-Tropez on yet a new rape allegation in France. Lamjarred, who has denied the allegations, was released on a bail of 150,000 euros and cannot leave France.^[15][19] His release on bail was later appealed by the Parquet of Draguignan (public prosecutor). On September 18, 2018, he was incarcerated in France following a decision of the cour d'appel (court of appeal) from Aix-en-Provence.^[20]

Following the third allegation, a campaign started on the social media with the hashtags "Lamjarred out" and "masaktach" (we won't be silenced), with the users demanding that his songs being taken off the radio stations. 2M and Hit Radio were among the first to take his songs off the airways, with the latter saying that they would ask their listeners whether they should keep the ban permanent or not.^[21]

Discography

References

External links

• Saad Lamjarred's channel on YouTube
• Saad Lamjarred on Twitter