La Zarra is the artist name of Fatima-Zhara Hafdi. Or rather the alter ego which allows her to assume what she has repressed for years. “It’s an extension of me that breaks free with art,” she explained in an interview earlier this fall at the Ritz-Carlton. “It is the singer, the creativity and all the aspects of my personality that I give myself the right to push more: my comical side, a little dark and narcissistic, slightly domineering. ”
Indeed, she has fun playing the diva by giving herself the airs of actress of the 1940s and 1950s. An image very far from the woman a bit shy, but certainly sympathetic, who connects the interviews in a room of luxurious hotel. “When I meet people, they expect me to be like in my music videos, but they’re pretty disappointed,” says the artist, who is his age.
A simplicity and a humility emerge from the singer, who has long been convinced of never being able to make a career. Until she crossed paths with producer Benny Adam in 2016.
We were in a party, a little drunk. He started playing the piano For you to love me again, by Céline Dion. I started to sing. He told me to go to the studio the next day.
La Zarra
After a fruitful collaboration on a few songs, an almost four-year hiatus followed. “Then, I had the momentum to produce an EP in the summer of 2019.” Tired of explaining to strangers that she worked as a hairdresser, but that she also sang, she chose to be proactive. “I had some kind of flame inside that just wanted to explode!” ”
A melancholy that groove
The songs from his first album are almost all tinged with an assumed melancholy. “When I have a creative impulse, I enter a period of trance during which I revisit several stifled emotions. I have no trouble understanding the music of Piaf and Barbara, even if they bring me to a world I have never known. Something inside me can feel them. ”
However, do not believe that La Zarra is completely vulnerable in his songs. “I write without wanting to say too much, otherwise I won’t have anything more to say afterwards. I am too modest to reveal myself in full. ”
She is also very discreet about her origins, when we mention the Arabic-speaking accents that tint her music. “With my name, we understand that I come from North Africa, but even if I came from elsewhere, I would have been attracted by oriental music and this symbiosis between voice and music. ”
When it is pointed out to her that Quebec-Arab performers are few in number, she replies that she does not want to be a model for a segment of the population in particular.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Me, this is La Zarra, I make music and here it is. I want people of all ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations to be able to listen to my music, come together and sing together, but not because I come from such a place in Africa.
La Zarra
She stays away from political discussions. “We are not going to lie to each other: the Arabs are not very popular at the moment. When I hear some people’s speeches on TV, I tell myself that I don’t want to go into it. Maybe I will do it later when I’m a little more established. ”
However, she has no trouble explaining why she sings in French, and not in English or Arabic. “In English, everything can sound and rhyme more easily, but French is so much richer. It is more complex to create a minimalist text, without being childish, with strong images. I like the challenge. ”
His francophone creation is also a nice snub to his years in high school. “I sucked in French,” she exclaims, making her teenage daughter laugh, sitting back in the bedroom. My teachers hated me. I was not the most model student. Today my song White spring is studied at a college. It’s a great revenge! ”
Challenges do not scare La Zarra. The one who was a finalist for the Francophone Revelation of the Year at the NRJ Awards gala, which crowned the Marseille rapper Naps on November 20, is about to take her first steps on stage. “I will soon be performing twice in front of 10,000 people with big artists. I have zero experience on stage, so it works or it breaks! ”
Urban pop
Treachery
La Zarra
Universal