Day 2 | Momo Festival | Roufaida

Through her forward-thinking production smarts and open-hearted voice, Roufaida’s music honors and reimagines past, present and future. In a society so often divided in borders and factions, the fluidity of this Rotterdam-based artist injects an abundance of possibility, often just a single breath or button-press away. In her deft hands, the deep tones of the guembri – a traditional Moroccan string instrument – hums seamlessly in tandem with the icy pulse of a drum computer. As a child of both Western and North-African cultures, Roufaida takes what she needs, and leaves what she doesn’t – a lucid sentiment paraphrased in her song “Don’t Bend”. Through trial and fortune, Roufaida’s songs sound both inventive and homespun: rooted in earthbound tactilities, yet weightlessly aloft in mystery and transience.