Since I wrote my last post, my boss has flooded me with more music. She moved out of Africa and into Asia. But we are going to stay in Africa for now. (She also said that I make her sound much more interesting than she is. But then, she would, wouldn’t she?)

Today we have Mariem Hassan. She was born in what was then Spanish Sahara — part of Morocco now. She just died a couple months ago. She had bone cancer. It’s very sad. She was only 57. Regardless, her music is very beautiful. In addition to being a singer, she was a lyricist. And she was also quite political and wrote a lot about female empowerment. Or so I’m told. She generally sang in Arabic, and when she didn’t, she was singing in another language I don’t know.

The following is “Haiyu” off her 2010 album, Shouka. It is gourgeous and upbeat — I’ve been led to believe that the lyrics are similarly sunny. I believe it is an old folk song that she updated.