Firas Chahir, an undiscovered talent

Today is one of those days when I don't feel like reading or writing, or following the Zionist genocide in Gaza, but rather listening to jokes from the social networks. I renounce to impress, to receive impressions, to be admired, to admire the skills of the arachnids that weave and nestle the web of the Internet. 

The virtual metaverse, of infinite distraction, absorbs our time without our being aware of it. Its curiosities, suggestive or not, trap us, moving us from one place to another, from one subject to another and from one argument to another. And it shows us how nature wisely distributes its gifts. A space that allows almost anything. Or almost nothing is forbidden; everything has a place and nothing is superfluous. Some with more success and grace, and others with much less. Although most of them are only there to remind us that "there are people for everything", as an Andalusian would say. 

While surfing around these parts, I came across Firas Chahir, pseudonym of Khalid Zaâbouli, a singer and composer from Tangiers of Moroccan origin. He composes and sings various genres, the international Rai or Arabic styles, daring to mix Arabic and Flamenco. His musical activity began in 1994. Later, in 2001, he moved to Spain where he continues to develop his career at times, as he is professionally engaged in other activities. "You have to make a living," he says. 

Based in Valencia, this talent from Tangiers is the son of Abdelkader, a former maître d' in the great hotels of Gibraltar and Tangiers. And of the affable Amina, his mother. He has two brothers, both artists. Ismael, a vocational painter who combines realism and abstraction; and Yassine, a hotel businessman, gastronomic artist, lover of rural tourism and living nature. 

From an early age, when he was barely two years old, he was able to sing songs from advertising spots. Whether on Moroccan or Spanish television broadcasts. Over the years, at the end of the eighties, Firas Chahir became acquainted with Moroccan music and oriental Arab music in general, as well as Spanish music in all its variants. He became interested in Flamenco singing because of its similarity to Arabic music, and especially because of its spectacular turns. Later, he was attracted by American pop music, from Madonna to Michael Jackson via Modern Talking. 

As a cosmopolitan Tangier native, Firas Chahir initially adopted several musical styles. All of them marked by both Arab and Spanish influences. Thus, his style, or styles in the plural, ranges from international Rai to oriental notes via Flamenco, without renouncing the exploration of rhythms from the Persian Gulf. 

In his early days, Firas Chahir circulated his tapes and demos among young people attracted, this time, by Rai music. His first musical performances took place in 1994 in Tangier. There were various interventions in different hotel halls, cinemas and theatres in the city. Their first concert took place in the hall of the Solazur Hotel. After this first success, came the next one in the Mauritania Cinema Hall. This was followed by others at the Cine Lux in 1999 and 2014. 

In Spain, his musical beginnings began to take shape in 2002 with his first concert in Granollers. In 2019 in Lérida and, later, in Valencia in 2021. In 2022 he begins a tour in June, closing it in July of the same year in Valencia. 

One of the characteristics of the artist is his song to love. But not just any love, but love for cultural diversity as a motto, for tolerance and friendship between peoples above all else. Something that caught my attention and admiration. It stresses, and very much so, friendship between peoples. It advocates the union of the Arab Maghreb, which includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania, in a beautiful song entitled "Maghreb United". 

He also dedicates a title to the fraternity that should reign between Spain and Morocco in his other song entitled "Tolerance". Two neighbouring countries that share geography and history across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and, above all, across the Strait of Gibraltar. A corridor of only 15 kilometres that could unite, through a bridge, Africa with Europe. A short distance, but with a long geopolitical reach. This has just allowed the joint celebration of the 2030 World Cup between two continents and three countries, Portugal-Spain-Morocco. 

However, talent is not always synonymous with success. Far from it. No matter how much the artist perseveres. The world of music is still a mysterious labyrinth through which there is more pain than joy. A suffering that artists endure in silence. And very few dare to show it, because they always maintain that lively hope of rising from the ashes in a world plagued by hostile interests that take the form of denial. And from which very few escape. Nor did Firas Chahir. Neither in his beginnings in Tangiers nor now in Spain. 

His own musical compositions and lyrics are interpreted by the artist himself with his powerful and unmistakable voice on social networks. A place that offers important opportunities to the brave artists who never give up. His performances, present on these platforms, are widely visited on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc. Networks of great diffusion that facilitate interaction with their followers and a greater visibility of their work, far from the official channels. 

My idleness today, for which I am grateful, has allowed me to browse social networks and music platforms. I was able to listen to jokes, songs or how to make cupcakes in two minutes. I was also able to meet Firas Chahir who has managed to impress me and whom I have been able to admire while trying to overcome a laziness that, from time to time, takes over my being.