Hindi Zahra

Biography

Hindi Zahra (Tamazight: ⵀⵉⵏⴷⵉ ⵣⴰⵀⵕⴰ, Arabic: هندي زهرة, born 20 January 1979 in Khouribga, Morocco) is a Moroccan singer. When coming up with a stage name, she simply inverted her birth name. Her songs are mostly in English but some lyrics as in the song "Imik Si Mik" are in the Berber Shilha language.
Influenced by singers like Cheikha Rimitti and Umm Kulthum, Hindi Zahra has drawn comparisons with Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Billie Holiday, Patti Smith, and Norah Jones.

Career

Zahra was raised by her mother, a dancer and actress, in Khouribga, Morocco. At the age of fifteen, she left school and moved to Paris to live with her father, who had been a soldier. At age 18 she worked at the Louvre.
She is the sister of Youssef Hindi.
Zahra wrote her first lyrics and melodies. She is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. By 2005 she had written about 50 songs of which Beautiful Tango, Oursoul, Try, and Stand Up were first released on the EP Hindi Zahra in 2009 and eleven songs were recorded on Hindi Zahra's first album which was released in January 2010 at the Jazz label Blue Note Records. The video to the opening song Beautiful Tango was made by French director Tony Gatlif. The song Stand Up was chosen for a commercial campaign by Western Union. In June 2010 she collaborated with French musician Blundetto on his debut album, Bad Bad Things. In November 2010, Hindi Zahra won the Prix Constantin for Best Album. In February 2011, she won the Victoires de la Musique award for the best World music album.
In 2014 she had roles in the films The Narrow Frame of Midnight by Tala Hadid and in The Cut by Fatih Akin.
In April 2015 her second studio album, Homeland×Homeland10 April 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1To the Forces4:39A2Silence4:23B1Any Story4:18B2Un Jour5:17B3Can We Dance4:35Disc 2C1La Luna3:58C2The Blues3:54C3Broken Ones4:07D1Dream5:52D2Cabo Verde3:00D3The Moon Is Full4:55, was released.

Albums

Others
2011: Handmade Deluxe Edition (with previously unreleased songs)

EPs

2009: Hindi Zahra (EP)
2011: Until the Next Journey (EP)

Singles

• Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but in the Ultratip charts.

Other releases
2010: "Stand Up"
2010: "Imik Si Mik"
2011: "Fascination×Fascination25 February 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Fascination (radio edit)3:36

Honours

On August 22, 2016, she was decorated as a Knight of the Ouissam Al Moukafâa Al Wataniya — the Order of National Merit — by King Mohammed VI.