Long lost to time, the 1970s Moroccan funk of Fadoul, behind a unique Arabic cover of James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, was rediscovered decades later by a German producer. His raw, punk-infused sound and fearless lyrics have since reintroduced Morocco's forgotten funk pioneer to a new generation. Did you know that Casablanca once had its own James Brown? Before young artists and singers took to the internet to record covers of their favorite hits, a funk-loving singer from Casablanca created his Darija rendition of James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, the first Brown song to reach the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten, earning him a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording. The Moroccan version of Brown's hit, produced by a young musician and funk enthusiast in the 1970s, was lost to time, along with the genius voice and name behind it: M'Fadel Fadoul. It wasn't until the 2010s that this local hit from Casablanca's golden age, when the city was buzzing with young rockers and rollers, resurfaced. Fadoul's cover «Sid Redad» was rediscovered by a young producer trying to kill time on a work trip to Morocco. Lost in oblivion It all started when German music producer Jannis Stürtz was in Morocco in 2012 as the tour manager for Ghanaian singer and rapper Blitz the Ambassador, unaware he was about to unearth a forgotten chapter of Moroccan funk. After the tour ended at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, he decided to linger a few days longer in what he calls the «rough yet beautiful» city that, in the 1960s and 1970s, had been the epicenter of Morocco's vibrant recording scene. «Strolling through the city, I ended up in a particularly rundown part of the medina», Stürtz recalled. «I took a couple of side streets and found myself in front of a tiny shop that was overflowing with broken electronic devices». Behind that pile of scrap, Stürtz stumbled upon what every vinyl hunter dreams of: stacks of forgotten records. The shop owner, it turned out, had once run a record label in the 1970s before switching to electronics when cassette tapes took over. «It took me nearly a day to go through the piles of 7-inches I had never seen before», he said. There was one record in particular that caught his attention, «by a band called Fadoul et les Privileges, with James Brown credited on the A-side». The first time he played it, Stürtz said, «I was blown away. It was a cover of James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, sung in Arabic and backed by a rawly recorded three-piece band. It's hard to describe the music without hearing it, but I ended up summarizing it as Arabic funk played with a punk attitude». Reborn for a new generation He had just discovered Sid Redad, recorded by none other than M'Fadel Fadoul, a discovery that quickly became his obsession. «It was a true gem forgotten through the passages of time», he said. Over the next few years, Stürtz kept returning to Morocco, finding three more records by Fadoul, all carrying the same fierce energy, the same «mighty voice and raw atmosphere» that had first captivated him. In 2014, after years of searching, he finally found a lead. Members of another Moroccan band, the Golden Hands, told him that Fadoul had died long ago. That revelation sparked a new journey, a trail of phone calls, street conversations, and taxi rides across Casablanca, that eventually led him to Fadoul's family home, where he met one of his sisters. «She shared beautiful stories about her brother», he recalled, «a creative spirit who painted, acted in theatre, and poured most of his energy into music». Born in Casablanca, Fadoul had spent time in Paris, where he absorbed the sounds of James Brown, Free, and other American acts that shaped his unique blend of Arabic and Western influences. Even after his brief recording career ended, he continued to experiment, composing jingles, including one for a Moroccan orange juice brand. He even worked as a circus clown for four years and dabbled in early hip-hop in the 1980s, rapping over grooves from the Tom Tom Club, an American new wave band founded in 1981. Fadoul passed away in 1991 at the age of 50. «Sitting in the family's living room was an emotional moment for all of us», said Stürtz. «They hadn't heard his music for thirty years, there wasn't even a record player in the house. To see their reaction, and to know his music had reached people again, was incredible». That encounter led to the reissue of Al Zman Saib (Time Is Hard), Fadoul's first LP, released decades after his music was originally pressed through Stürtz' co-founded label Habibi Funk. The label is mostly known for its albums and accompanying booklets of Arabic funk and soul bands from the 1960-80s. «Fadoul made some really wild music back in the day», Stürtz explained. «A lot of it talked about depression, drugs, and drinking», Stürtz said, describing his lyrical choices. «One of the songs I came across has a very distinctive funk influence, but Fadoul plays it in such a raw style it has this punk rock-ish attitude and feel», he added. Other masterpieces by Fadoul included a cover of Free's All Right Now, retitled Al Zman Saib, and original songs that spoke directly to his audience at the time, such as Bslama Hbibti, La Tiq La Tiq, Tilifoun, and Laylat Jedbah.
