Mbarek Oularbi « Nba »

Born in Mellab in 1982, Mbarek Oularbi held a degree in law and French literature and was unemployed when he began to sing (Granci). He founded Saghru Band with his brother Khalid, and the band became known in 2006. Its first album, “Muha” (2007), was in Granci's view a turning point for the whole south-eastern scene, and Nba was one of the creators, with Moha Mallal, of “Amun Style”.

His songs, in Tamazight, speak of the Amazigh condition, of injustice and the marginalisation of his region, of an excluded language and of exile. “Tabrat i Obama”, addressed to the American president, echoes Lounès Matoub's “Monsieur le président”; “Ulac smah ulac”, with lyrics by Omar Derouich, supports political prisoners in Meknes and Errachidia (Granci). In 2010 the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture awarded him its prize for the best modern Amazigh song.

He died on 9 January 2011, aged 28, after a few months of illness. Since 2012 an association of his friends has held a yearly commemoration in Mellab that brings together artists and intellectuals of the region; according to Granci, his death made him a reference for the musicians who came after him.