Moroccan Rapper ElGrandeToto Sparks Controversy with Cannabis Comments at Rabat Festival

"We smoke weed, so what?!" the rapper said during a press conference held as part of the Rabat Festival. "We don’t have to go far to get weed, it’s just around the corner," he added, noting that the cannabis-producing regions are only 300 kilometers away. "We know all over the world that Morocco is the cradle of cannabis, and people from all over the world come to Morocco to smoke cannabis," he stressed.

These statements made during a continental cultural event aimed at promoting the Moroccan capital as an incubator of culture and art have sparked much criticism on social media. "How do we respond to this artist, who said such things at an official press conference at the Festival of the African Capital of Rabat..." wonders Moroccan social activist Abd Alali Rami in a post on his Facebook page, before calling on the Moroccan police and the public prosecutor’s office to intervene.

He also criticized the Ministry of Culture and Communication for inviting the rapper to participate in the Rabat Festival as a representative of the Moroccan cultural scene. "As far as we know, weed is prohibited by law, while he - the rapper - publicly admits to the national media that it is a normal thing," Abd Alali Rami was outraged.