Saad Lamjarred

(Arabic: ‫ ;سعد لمجرد‬born April 7, 1985) is a Moroccan pop singer, dancer, singer-songwriter, actor
and record producer. His song, "Lm3allem" is the highest viewed Arabic song on YouTube with
over 770 million views as of October 2019.[1]

Contents
 1Early life
 2Career
 3Personal life
 4Rape allegations and investigations
 5Discography
o 5.1Albums
o 5.2Singles
o 5.3Featurings
o 5.4Awards and nominations
 6References
 7External links
Early life[edit]
Lamjarred was born to Bachir Abdou, a Moroccan classical singer, and Nezha Regragui, an
actress and comedian.[2] From an early age, Lamjarred had a special interest in playing the piano,
as well as singing as early as the age of four.
Lamjarred then went on to study at the Conservatory of Music in Rabat, where he studied music,
art theory and dance. He would perform many productions wherein he would collaborate with his
father.
Lamjarred moved to the US in 2001 and cites thisas one of the main sources of inspiration for his
music, crediting the experience for exposing him to western music and having a defining effect
on his style and the type of artist he wanted to identify as.[2]
Career[edit]
In 2007, Lamjarred took part in Super Star, a widely popular Arab talent TV show, and was placed
second[3] in season 4 of the series that was won by the Tunisian Marwan Ali. His participation
earned him recognition.
In 2011, Lamjarred started his acting career, playing the male lead in Ahlam Nassim, a Moroccan
soap opera. He released an album in 2013, titled Wala Aalik. That same year, he released two
more EPs, namely Salina and Enty. The title song of the latter, "Enty" (Arabic: ‫)أنتي‬, became one
of Lamjarred’s biggest hits and earned him an award at the Méditel Morocco Music Awards
2014,[4][5][6] as well as a nomination for the Best Middle East Act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music
Awards.[7]
Lamjarred was also nominated for the Best Middle East Act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music
Awards.[7] He won the Murex d'Or in the category of "Best Arabic Song" for his 2014 song "Enty".
The music video for Lamjarred's 2015 hit single, "Lm3allem" (Arabic: ‫)لمعلم‬, earned a Guinness
World Record achievement after garnering 500 million views on YouTube within three months of
release.[8][9] As of October 2019, the video is the most viewed Arabic video on YouTube, garnering
more than 770 million views.
A year later, Lamjarred released another single titled "Ana Machi Sahel" (Arabic: ‫)أنا ماشي ساهل‬,
which he soon followed up with a black-and-white music video released on YouTube that features
dozens of Lamjarred's fans, who have filmed themselves singing along to the song at home, in
their cars and out and about.[10] Lamjarred didn't wait too long to release another single by the
name of "Ghaltana" (Arabic: ‫ )غلطانة‬in the form of a video clip directed by Amr Rouani. The video
caught eyes because of its Wild West, gritty feel, inspired by Rouani's childhood love of Mad
Max films.[11]
Following this success, Lamjarred's music production took a brief gap while he was on trial in
Paris for "sexual assault",[12] but soon made a come-back with his August 2017 comeback titled
"Let Go". It was an immediate hit, it earned about half a million views on YouTube within an hour
of its release.[13] Lamjarred later released new hit songs such as "Ghazali" (Arabic: ‫)غزالي‬, another
big hit that earned more than half a million views only minutes after the video went live at an
average of 50 thousand views every five minutes.[14] "Ghazali" was then succeeded by
"Casablanca", in which Lamjarred sings in French.[15]
August 2018 saw Lamjarred incarcerated once more in Saint Tropez, halting his music career
again until December 2018, in which he released another single, titled "Baddek Eih" (Arabic: ‫بدك‬
‫ )ايه‬for his mother's 70th birthday. Within 4 hours of publication, the official music video received
over a million views on YouTube.
In July 2019, Lamjarred performed and released a duet with Egyptian actor and fellow
singer Mohamed Ramadan titled "Ensay" (Arabic: ‫)إنساي‬, which garnered over 100 million views
within a month of publication.[16]
Personal life[edit]
Lamjarred leads a very private love life, but there were confirmed rumors that he was once
married, and divorced around 2015. When asked about it by the media, he blamed jealousy,
claiming that it could "really destroy lives", especially since he works in entertainment.[17]
Rape allegations and investigations[edit]
In February 2010 while visiting the United States, Saad Lamjarred was accused of beating and
raping a woman from Brooklyn, New York. Lamjarred fled the U.S. after posting bail and was in
risk of being arrested if he returned.[18] The case was dropped in 2016, after the accuser "stopped
cooperating with prosecutors" and reached a settlement in a lawsuit.[19][20]
Lamjarred was arrested at the Marriott Champs Elysées at the 17th arrondissement of Paris on
October 25, 2016, where he appeared before a French prosecutor to face the charges about an
alleged sexual assault against a French woman.[18][21] He was scheduled to perform at the Palais
des congrès de Paris on October 29, 2016. Lamjarred was released in 2017, but still faces
charges.[22] In early 2017, he was "prohibited from performing in public, traveling and speaking to
media".[20] The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, helped him cover his fees and hire a legal
team.[19][23] In 2017, a French-Moroccan woman accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse at
an apartment in Casablanca, Morocco, back in 2015.[19][23] She later withdrew the complaint
"under pressure from her family".[23]
On August 26, 2018, he was once again arrested in Saint-Tropez on a new rape allegation in
France. Lamjarred, who has denied the allegations, was released on a bail of 150,000 euros and
could not leave France.[19][23] His release on bail was later appealed by the Parquet of Draguignan
(public prosecutor). On September 18, 2018, he was incarcerated in France following a decision
of the cour d'appel (court of appeal) from Aix-en-Provence.[24] On November 20, 2018, it was
announced that he had been cleared of rape charges, but would be tried for "crimes of sexual
assault and willful violence".[25] On December 6, 2018, it was announced that French authorities
had released Lamjarred on a conditional release and that he is awaiting trial. His Moroccan
passport was confiscated, he is not allowed to leave France and he has to report to the nearest
precinct once a week.[26][27]
Following the third allegation, a campaign started on the social media with the hashtags
"Lamjarred out" and "masaktach" (An Arabic term expressing refusal to be silenced), with the
users demanding that his songs being taken off the radio stations. 2M and Hit Radio were among
the first to take his songs off the airways, with the latter saying that they would ask their listeners
whether they should keep the ban permanent or not.[28]
In September 2018, after a campaign on social networks, some Moroccan media stopped their
broadcast of Lamjarred's songs.