The young Franco-Moroccan released her first single titled “Casa” on June 9. In this interview, Ouidad looks back on his dual career and her passion for music that she decided to fully embrace.
She is not afraid to dream big and assumes her ambitions. Ouidad arrives in France to begin his pharmacy studies after obtaining his baccalaureate at the French high school in Casablanca, his native land. With parents who are doctors, this scientific and reassuring path has always attracted him, but the appeal of music seems to be stronger. The young woman has always had this light in her heart, but it was only once she graduated as a doctor of pharmacy and was well established in her profession as a pharmacist that she dared to launch out and finally release this “caged lion”.
Niçoise for two years, the singer with a double life released her very first single, on June 9, 2023, a sound entitled “Casa”. Its title exceeds 325,000 plays on Spotify, to date. The clip has already been viewed more than 315,000 times on Youtube. More than satisfactory figures for a start, which push her to always want more to accomplish her dream: to make music her full-time job.
How did you come to combine pharmacy and music, two fields that we tend to oppose?
I have always sung. However, I have always been cautious. Even in the upbringing I received, I always learned to play it safe. And in any case, even if I’ve always sung, I’ve always been very interested in health since my parents are doctors. It was really something I wanted to do. Beyond the fact of being a health professional, it was really the knowledge that I wanted to have. And the music, it was like a frustration not to do it.
When the desire to make music resurfaces to the point that you decide to start ?
When I was at the end of my studies, I realized that I was missing something. All my life, I told myself that I was going to do something in music and I realized that the years passed and that I hadn’t gotten into it seriously yet. So, I said to myself that I had to get started, I had nothing more to lose because my studies were guaranteed.
What do you want to say with your music?
I would like people to be able to identify with me, for people not to be afraid to do whatever they want to do. There is no box. I like art and science, and I want to show that it’s not impossible to do both. I would really like to send a message of hope and be an example for those who feel blocked from doing such and such a thing. There are no limits, the limit is yourself.
I was on a permanent contract, and I couldn’t make music anymore, it was impossible. I took the leap, I resigned. Since then, I only make replacements. So, it’s me who chooses the moments when I can work according to the music. I give my availability according to recording sessions or concerts.
I met my manager in Nice. She introduced me to my team: Matthieu Mendès who composes and Brav, with whom I write. We started working together in June 2022. I have a lot to tell, I didn’t grow up in France, I studied for a long time. We decided to tell my story a bit so that as many people as possible could identify with it. We decided to talk about Casa, the city where I grew up, which also means “home” in many languages.
What is he talking about ?
To introduce myself to the public, the best thing to do was to tell where I come from. I grew up abroad, it forged me, it built me. Then I had to leave the house where I grew up in which I feel good. France and Morocco are very different, the traditions, cultures and people are not the same. I experienced a bit of a culture shock when I arrived here. I also pay tribute to France, which rocked my early adulthood. I thought it was important to highlight the two countries that rocked me, and that helped me build myself as a teenager and then as a woman.
What were your musical inspirations?
We were a bit inspired by traditional Arabic music. Me when I was in the car with my parents, we listened to a lot of Oum Kalthoum. We wanted to combine that with a little more European pop music, because I also grew up listening to Britney Spears, Jenifer, Rihanna. As in my voice there is already a lot of oriental intention, we said to ourselves that we were not going to do too much.
A clip accompanies the single, what is its story?
It’s too funny because these videos were not intended to become a music video. We wanted to make a video to illustrate the song. Ideas started flowing, we talked about doing it at home, in Morocco, then with my aunts, my mother and my cousins. What was supposed to be just a small live session turned into a shoot with several sets and several scenes with my family members, because everyone played the game well. It was very symbolic because it’s really where I grew up, I couldn’t be better than there.
What can we wish you for the future? ?
A maximum of possible scenes. I love concerts, I discovered the scene this year and frankly, it surpassed everything I already felt in the studio. That my music can speak to as many people as possible, that it does them good and that it does me good too. And then, a maximum of projects, albums, EPs, a gold record, a revelation of the year…