Oum el Ghaït Benessahraoui was born in Casablanca on April 18, 1978. Child, then teenager, she spends her youth in Marrakech where very young, she learns a repertory from soul, pop and jazz music and interprets the songs of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston. In 1999 and in Casablanca, Oum is discovered by Philippe Delmas, french artists manager like Assia, Leslie, Nadiya... and of which she accepts the invitation to be recorded in France. Two years afterwards, she returns to Morocco where she goes to discover new universes of inspiration by visiting the Gnaoui and the Hassani from which are her origins Sahraoui. In this same year she knows Barry, Moroccan musician who evolves in the fusion, with which she goes up on the scene of the festivals of Essaouira, Tanjazz, and of Casablanca and also BAM festival of Barcelona. Together they carry out the duet dear mama for which they turn a clip produced by sigma. It is with this same label as Oum produces her first album whose exit is planned for the beginning of 2007. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.