60 Moroccans Perform Virtual ‘We Are the World’ Solidarity Tribute

Rabat – Sixty Moroccan talents lent their voices in solidarity with their country’s COVID-19 efforts in a video posted Wednesday, April 29 on organizer Mohamed Meghraoui’s Instagram account. 

The initiative echoed an American precedent titled “Together at Home,” where 33 artists sang the international hit “We Are the World.” The Moroccan version doubled the challenge with 60 participants.

The large number of performers was a calculated achievement for Meghraoui, who is a fifth-year medical student, but it came as a surprise to the initiative’s musicians. 

“They had no idea who they were performing with. They also thought they were just a few singers, not 60, and no one heard the final version before I posted it,” Meghraoui explained in an interview with Morocco World News.

The video would have displayed 61 performers had it not been for an editing mistake, Meghraoui lamented while acknowledging all of the other singers and instrumentalists.

The video went viral and gathered approximately 188,000 views within two days of being shared on Instagram.

 

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I would like to start by apologizing to someone. The great @rehab_elbakhch was supposed to be part of this work, but I, big asshole, forgot to add her part. Hope you forget my mistake ❤️. Ladies and gentlemen, 60 young talented musicians gathered for “We are the World”. No animal was harmed during the making of this video -except a few ears and egos-. These artists are viewing this united cover for the first time, I made sure no one had a preview of it. The result is not perfect, but this cover is the one I’m proud of the most among all my other projects. God knows how such small parts could be this hard to perform, but these people nailed every single word of it. They had no clue who they were performing with. Many don’t even know their friends are in this too. I hope I made you guys proud. Forgive my harshness, I was a pain in the ass during the making of this cover. I even made them call me lord mghiw 😂 -the ones who didn’t had their parts sabotaged-, and laughed hard when I was asked if they were only singing a few words. If u ask me how hard is to assemble 58 voices and 2 instruments, l would say l’d rather go for a 1000 piece puzzle but this was worth every god damn note because it is an honor for me to work with such talented people that l can call friends : @nouhaila_berri @majd.elamrani @salmatoon @zineblarhlid @jaylage1 @mamoun_benhaddou @groovemaker19 @nouhaila_berri @abderrahmane_sahabi @elektrikc @yassine____adnane @_meryemzoubir_ @imane.elkadiri @yahiaouarzazi @radiouth @thefishinthec @salmaalouah @thedreamelody @nadiflamia @halasb @iamehdiamokrane @69k_magic @iamhindz @mouradbighrman @ayajaih @imanebkkk @7asa7an @zoubidaelbou @marouanejakani @omarettarid @nuheylaaa @derk_salma @akramerica @hatimbajalat @issam_hosd @chaadine @wijdane_chaari @itsmaluck @the_liady @ubey_hive @lina.lahhane @lina_bkkl @chatcorne @doha.hayat @majd.elamrani @sarahzemrani @salma.chbani @rimhaberraih @iskamoon @nissrj @ghita.benkhaldoun @zluminous @younees_idrissi Instagram didn’t let me tag more people .. . . . . . . . . . #musical #musicvideo #musicians #musically #musician #song #singer #coversong #cover #covering #talent #talented #wowmusicians #hotvocals

A post shared by Mghiw (@mghiw) on Apr 29, 2020 at 1:54pm PDT

To bring the project to life, Meghraoui spread the word using Instagram’s story feature. The 22-year-old avoided disclosing project details at the time, instead relying on intrigued volunteers and close friends without whom he “couldn’t imagine the cover seeing day.”

Meghraoui edited the videos that the musicians shared with him from their homes into one single product. 

The singers hinted at the importance of staying at home, staying united, and maintaining hygiene throughout the virtual performance. 

“The world is going through very hard times. We wanted to show our country that we could do amazing things by staying in our rooms. Wearing a mask in the video is a little glance at the pandemic,” Meghraoui said.

The initiative came amid Morocco’s extended lockdown which is scheduled to last until May 20 and includes most of Ramadan, as part of a series of health measures to fight the spread of COVID-19.

The lockdown actually made the project more viable. The confinement negated all potential excuses for delays or missing deadlines, according to Meghraoui. “I believe it would have been harder for us to perform so if there was no confinement,” he added.

Morocco’s Ministry of Health announced that the country’s total case count stands at 4,569, including 170 fatalities and 1,083 recoveries, at 4 p.m. on May 1.

During difficult times when family visits could be life-threatening, these young Moroccans found comfort in music and shared that sentiment with the rest of their country.