ElGrandeToto.
via publicist.
The Opener is The FADER’s mini-interview series with exciting new artists we think you should know.
ElGrandeToto is one of the biggest artists to come out of Morocco, but odds are you haven’t heard of him. Rapping primarily in Darjia, his home country’s blend of Mahgrebi Arabic, French, and Spanish, he’s found real success in North Africa: With his latest mixtape SALGOAT VOL. 2 and its recently released deluxe, Toto is hoping to break further into American and European markets.
Toto’s older brother introduced him to krumping as a child growing up in the Benjdia neighborhood of Casablanca in the late 2000’s. That first brush with American hip-hop eventually led Toto to try his hand at rapping in the mid 2010s, netting his first taste of viral success in 2017 with “Pablo,” a Travis Scott-inflected burst of trap music that proved to Toto (and his skeptical parents) that he could find success in rap music. Nearly a decade later, Toto has become Morocco’s biggest streaming artist, building off the success of 2021’s vivid Caméléon and his introspective 2023 album 27, with ambitions to become, “the greatest Arab artist of all time.” No small feat for the MC from the BNJ, but everything seems impossible until it’s been done.
On his latest mixtape SALGOAT VOL. 2, he’s still burrowing into the haunted melodic trap of Scott and Trippie Redd, but Toto’s omnivorous appetite for hip-hop also metabolizes Southern pain rap and modern G-funk, at least in bits and pieces. While those sonic palettes will be readily familiar to American listeners, Toto’s music more directly reminds me of Palestinian contemporaries like producer-rapper Julmud or BLTNM’s Shabjdeed, whose songs similarly build tensio with Arabic phonetics and minor-key synths. So even when ElGrandeToto is rapping about the high life, there’s an undercurrent of sorrow or paranoia, a sense that nothing good can truly last.
The FADER caught up with ElGrandeToto over email to chat about life mottos, his idea of the perfect afternoon, and why he felt “disappointed” after watching Michael.
What’s the coolest thing to do in your hometown?
Go watch a football game.
What’s the last film you watched?
The last one I saw was Michael. I was disappointed not to see Janet in it, but overall it was cool.
When you’re not making music, how do you spend your free time?
I travel. I read. I write.
Tell us about the first album you ever bought.
The first Moroccan rap album I bought: 3azzy 3ando stylo by Dizzy DROS. I bought it because it was something new, something I’d never seen before in Moroccan rap. Pure curiosity, mostly. And I’d really loved the artist’s run, the tracks he’d dropped before the album even came out.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever bought for $100 or less?
Any music album I’ve bought.
What’s a motto you think everyone should live by?
“Vidi vici before you veni. You have to show up already a winner. You need a winner’s mindset before you even get there, before you arrive anywhere.
Explain a lyric of yours that people misunderstand.
There’s a line of mine that blew up precisely because people didn’t get what it meant: “Es egt de Bnj.” It means, “It’s ElgrandeToto from Benjdia.”
What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to?
50 Cent at the Casablanca festival
Which of your songs would you love to remix, and why?
“Pablo” because it’s timeless. I’d love to remix it for its 10-year anniversary.
What’s your favorite tattoo?
This one. It reads “Saïda,” for my mum’s mum.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Stay yourself. Don’t change.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
Act like a star.
What’s the ideal level of fame, and why?
There’s no ideal level of fame. Every level has its highs and its lows, each one comes with its own downsides and its own upsides.
What’s your perfect afternoon?
At the beach with my son in Thailand, or under the rain, in an apartment.
What’s something you’re looking forward to?
Becoming the greatest Arab artist of all time.
Show us the last meme you saved to your phone.
I don’t save memes.
