D'MOORS // Interview

D’Moors - singers Adnan and Fares - is a Barcelona-based band of singers and dancers, who meld cultures by way of melody, artistry, and language. Their style, ranging from Afrotrap, Reggaeton and Hip-Hop is representative of the multicultural city scene. Often working with youth centers to support social integration, they reveal the importance of their cultural identity. Supporting their community from Barcelona's street life along with their other passions besides music, they told us everything in this interview.

For those who don’t know you yet, how would you introduce your music?

Adnan: D’Moors can be defined with a message that comes from people raised by the street. It's kinda deeper than what you would typically expect. It's like a message that people don’t usually address or express: our music reflects the inner world of a street guy.

Could you explain the meaning behind your stage name D’Moors?

Adnan: Our stage name is originally from an ethnic group known as Moors, from North Africa. They were a mixture of North Africans, Arabs, Jews, Western Europeans. They were a revolutionary tribe. They criticized the government and always shared a meaningful message. Their music was very melodic, like something very similar to flamenco. We're a mixed group as we’re Moroccans but we're working with Spanish and Italian people. We looked for a name that could reflect our mixture.

How did you end up working together?

Fares: We’ve been friends for a long time... We started being dancers together at 8 years old and after a while, we started doing music as well. Adnan: We started by rapping freestyle first. We had a friend who had a studio and we enjoyed the process of recording, making music and seeing what we could do with it. When we released our first song we realized that a bunch of people enjoyed it. So we were like "Wow, this is something we could do."

In the song ‘Se Reían’ you talk about the opinion of others but also of the importance of the people you're taking with you on your musical journey...

Adnan: When we released this song, lots of people from Barcelona messaged us because they could identify themselves in the song. They felt that we were expressing their way of thinking and experiencing life. In the end, anyone from the street who succeeds to get out of here wants to be with their people - the ones they met in the street.

In this song, you also talk about the way you want to advise young people.

Fares: Through music, we want to show kids that there isn’t only one path. There are many ways to get out of the street, and music is one of them. We started as kiddo as well, so we know what we're talking about.

Your music also is very energetic like your new song 'Hey Gyal'. How do you compose your music?

Adnan: We're always looking for a melody that carries some kind of emotions through the beat we choose. It's important for us to create songs where people can dance on it while representing our 'street vibe'.

Your birth identity is also something that you show a lot, especially on social media...

Fares: We’ve always been surrounded by people of our ethnicity so it influences us a lot when it comes to making something artistic. We're proud to be who we are - the children of immigrants Maghrebin people living in Spain now. I’m born Algerian but I’m Spanish too, I rap in Spanish.

You have a song called 'Barna' with Lil Moss, which is visually very nostalgic. Barcelona is considered a hub for artists and musicians. How does this city influence you?

Adnan: I wouldn’t be able to describe how Barcelona hits you. There's something special here. We used to live there when Barcelona wasn't huge as it is now and it was so different... Now, it’s quite full of tourists. These changes have influenced us a lot. There are good and bad things in everything, and this is what inspired us.

It's important for us to create songs where people can dance on it while representing our 'street vibe'.

I noticed that you have songs having the name of footballers 'Ronaldinho' and 'Piqué'. This trend is also visible with other artists such as MHD in France with 'Roger Milla' and in the U.K. with 'Drogba' by Afro B and 'Thiago Silva' by Dave.

Do you know where this trend comes from? Adnan: On a marketing level, talking about a footballer or someone very famous is quite good because you have more chance to be heard when people will search for this person on the web. (laugh)

You’ve collaborated with a variety of artists. Any dream collaboration now?

Fares: Personally, I’d like to work with Moroccan artists. It would be an honour to work with them and also Toto. We identify a lot with their music and we have the same vibe so I could be great to do something together.

What's next?

Adnan: In January, we’ll release few new songs with video clip as well. Right now, we’re also securing dates for some gig in 2020. Hopefully, we'll come to London. For now, the plan is just to keep making music, performing live, and keep making people to talk about us.

Instagram: DmoorsOfficial

Words © Cristina Conde // Photography © Costa Social Club