Zahera

Zahera (voc, bendir, tairija): [Sapho: Digital Sheika]

"Zahera and her girls from Hallilifa, one of the most popular and famous Sheikha combos of Marrakech, were singing and jamming along with Sapho on six tracks, as if she (Sapho) had been a member of the bunch for ages. But what exactly is a Sheikha ? In Morocco or Algeria, it`s a kind of "woman of ill-repute" or outcast who sings at weddings and feasts, with heavy make up, gold teeth, who drinks a lot and smokes dope. They shake their hair to the beat, move their sensual bellies to please women and men; sing about love and other realistic themes from the daily life. At feasts, they are well accepted and admired for their freedom and independence acquired in an Islamic country; in their private lives however they seem to suffer a certain disgrace from societie`s attitude to them, which forces them to live often together and hidden, rejected by their families and relatives. " (liner notes)