Anzor Alem, from Goma to Casablanca: a singular trajectory that questions the borders of African music

The name Anzor Alem may not appear first on the poster of the Casablanca Music Week, but his presence in this programming says a lot about the current  developments in the African music landscape.

Originally from Kisangani, in the Democratic  Republic of Congo, this artist mixes music and cinema in a journey that escapes the dominant  logics of the cultural industry.

In Casablanca, his arrival is not only an artistic choice: it  carries within it the tensions, hopes and changes of a continent in search of new stories. 

A decentralised trajectory, outside the agreed circuits 

Anzor Alem first became known for his role in the film Beast, alongside Idris Elba. But it was  in the shadow of the great African cultural capitals – Lagos, Abidjan or Johannesburg – that  he built his musical identity. His afrobeat is tinged with poetry, introspection, and sometimes  melancholy, far from the commercial euphoria often associated with the genre. 

According to several observers, this route on the sidelines is also a strength. “He is not in a  logic of industry, but in a logic of expression. And that can be felt,” says a Moroccan cultural  journalist present at the launch of the festival. Far from a storytelling tailored for social  networks, Anzor Alem seems to trace a personal furrow, less visible, but potentially more  sustainable. 

An Africa that re-tells itself from its own margins 

The choice of the Casablanca Music Week to include an artist like him is not trivial. It testifies  to a broader cultural repositioning: that of a continent that tries to represent itself, without  necessarily going through Western validation circuits. The organisers of the festival also say  they wanted to “put forward voices that are less heard, but carriers of powerful  imaginations”. 

While some see it as a strategy of differentiation, others read it as a form of editorial  courage. In any case, this choice helps to move the lines: Casablanca is not content to be a  simple receptacle of international stars like Gims or Shaggy. It becomes a space for  confrontation of stories, a place of emergence. 

A reception still uncertain, but with issues 

The public’s question remains. Will Anzor Alem, little known to the general Moroccan public,  be able to create a link when he passes on stage? Hard to say at this point. Several young  festival-goers interviewed say they don’t know his name, but are curious. “If it’s an African 

artist who goes off the beaten track, I want to discover,” says a communication student from  Rabat. 

This vagueness around his notoriety is not without question. He emphasises the limits of a  musical ecosystem still very unevenly structured on the continent. But he also asks: should  we always bet on the most visible artists to build a strong cultural event? Or can we trust the  power of stories, even those who do not shout? 

A symbol of mutation, beyond music 

Ultimately, the presence of Anzor Alem at the Casablanca Music Week acts as a revealer. She  questions the way African festivals think about their programming, the place left to emerging  artists, and the role of music as a tool for cultural redefinition. Without drum or trumpet, but  with an assumed artistic coherence. 

This is not a question of glorifying an artist, nor of making him a providential figure. But  simply to recognise that through him, something is moving. That the margins, sometimes,  say more than the centres. And that the musical map of Africa may no longer be drawn only  from its usual capitals – but also from Goma, Casablanca, or other places still invisible on  radars.

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