Global Win for Innov Gnawa

The nomination of Innov Gnawa for a Grammy tonight is a major win for globalism.

I have watched over the last year as this group of Moroccan men, themselves from disparate cities and backgrounds, have worked to collaborate with one another and with some of the world's greatest musicians. They've performed with other Africans and with Cubans, with Jews and Brazilians. They've performed with hip-hop chefs from Queens and at art shows and rock festivals, at temples, at the mellowest dark clubs and in my own living room.

Tonight, they are being recognized for their beautiful haunting rhythm alongside a British L.A. DJ's electronic thrum, a winning combination that has made the world want to get up and move.

The song, Bambro Koyo Ganda, on Bonobo's Migration album, played loud at Output in Williamsburg as we walked in after their show with him at Terminal 5 last Spring. I had watched as the crowds reacted with electric fervor to their beats, to their traditional Moroccan dress and their clapping hands and qraqebs. The feeling in the air was alive. I watched as the young American crowds began to sway and dance to the rising chanting voice of the Maalam Hassan Benjaafar. The rhythm rose up and enveloped them.

It is not a matter of their religion or the words they sing, the power of Innov Gnawa. It is their energy. It lifts you up and carries you, the way it lifted up and carried the slaves of their native land. It gives you hope. And hope...well, I believe we can borrow hope from every country who will share it with us. We need to collaborate, all of us together, inclusive of the beautiful rites and rituals of every kind of people, together.

Said Bourhana, Maalem Hassan Benjaafar, Samir Langus, Nawfal Naoufal, Ahmed Jeriouda, Amino Belyamani, David Lizmi, Meera Dugal...the countless people around them who have supported and helped, congratulations. Innov Gnawa's nomination is a sign of such love and collaboration as is necessary to inspire us all.

Salaam Alaikum my friends. Thanks for the inspiration.

Shalom. Inshallah. Peace be with You.