With influences of Björk, Fairuz and Nilüfer Yanya, Roufaida produces indie pop with guitar, guembri, vintage Riffian cassette samples and beats, in English and Arabic. On stage she creates her refined music solo, which allows the listener to come exceptionally close.

As a child, and like many other children of Moroccan immigrants, Roufaida went on family summer holidays to Morocco by car. During these trips, Riffian and Arabic music played against a backdrop of landscapes slowly turning red. ‘When I started revisiting the music something happened; I recognized a rhythm that my body possessed as well. It felt very natural to do something with that.’

Her lyrical themes are hope and opportunities. ‘As different as we may seem, we are all equal in our sadness, our love and loneliness.’

After several collaborations, Roufaida decided to continue her career as a solo artist, and in 2021 she produced new work in her home studio in Crooswijk Rotterdam. In the run-up to her album release, Roufaida supported Eefje de Visser, Neil Francis and Balthazar in 2022. She also performed at festivals such as Into The Great Wide Open, Motel Mozaique and Welcome to the Village.

In an attempt to make my work more personal, I researched my Moroccan roots musically, and it worked. When I revisited the music of my childhood, something happened. In the rhythms I recognized a rhythm within my body. It felt very natural to do something with that. North-Africa and the Arab world bring forth many exciting sounds, philosophies and beautiful poetry. And instruments, such as the guembri, which is a bass guitar and percussion instrument at the same time. The Arabic song on the record is based on a poem by the legendary Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, the ud samples on the record come from Riffian folk songs. Those elements have given my English guitar pop an extra dimension.

The songs are about in-betweenness and hesitation, connection, hope and love. About being unapologetically yourself. The process of creating this record has shown me that anything can be made. That different parts of my identity can coexist and reinforce each other. It gives me confidence to know that I can decide what I bring from which world, in creating my own truth and reality. Important for this proces was that I did everything on my from. From taping the demo’s to playing almost all instruments, programming the samples and writing the lyrics. It resulted in a record that is an extension of who I am.