Ahmed Chawki

Ahmed Chawki (; born 31 December 1982), known professionally by his stage name Chawki, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, and producer. Chawki began his career in the early 2000s. He had a music band named La Paloma which mainly focused on Arabic and Moroccan music. On occasion of the 2014 World Cup, he was featured in a football-themed song "Magic in the Air" by Magic System, a hit in France and Belgium. He is currently signed to RedOne Records, an international record label founded and owned by the producer.

Early life Ahmed Chawki was born on 31 December 1982 in the town of Jbeldersa, Tétouan in Morocco. He has been composing and singing poems since childhood. He studied at the National School of Theatre and Singing in Tétouan, and took part in a number of events and won several awards. He then enrolled at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tétouan, specializing in classical and Western singing, while studying musical theory.

Music career

Early career In 2000, Chawki took the first prize at the Arab Music Festival, organized by "Maison du Littoral" in Tetouan. La Paloma that made a fusion sound based on Arab, Moroccan and flamenco music participated for years to come on several national and international festivals, with big success and media coverage. As a result, he became a regular guest on television shows and on radio channels, including 2M via the program Nasima and Chanel One. His hit songs included "Ya Lmima", "La Paloma" and "Sinine", the latter in collaboration with the Spanish band Librejano.

2009 and 2010 saw release of further hits by Chawki including "Inta Lya", "Ya Nassini", "Ghaly" and "La Paloma" with moderate success, despite lack of support by record labels.

2013: Breakthrough Chawki caught the attention of RedOne during the production of the collective pan-Arab operetta work "Bukra" (in Arabic بكرة meaning tomorrow) in cooperation with Quincy Jones. Eventually Chawki was included alongside a great number of Arab artists in the project. The song became a big summer hit on the Middle Eastern charts as well as charting Europe, including France and the Netherlands.

The main version of "Habibi I Love You" by Ahmed Chawki featuring Pitbull became a big hit during the summer of 2013, with a live performance during the closing ceremonies of Festival Mawazine 2013 in Rabat and topping the charts in Lebanon, Egypt and the Persian Gulf area during summer 2013.

The song was notably a hit in France charting in SNEP, the official French Singles Chart with additional French lyrics as "Habibi I Love You (Mon Amour I Love you)" with vocals featuring French-Algerian singer Kenza Farah. The song also sold quite well in Scandinavian markets owing to involvement of RedOne, who had started his career in Sweden. Chawki's song has been covered including in Romanian as "Habibi" by Nek si Blondu de la Timișoara. Ahmed Chawki released an official Romanian version that features Mandinga with additional Romanian lyrics. Chawki performs his parts in Arabic and Spanish.

The song has been subject to great number of remixes and appears in a number of compilations. It also remains greatly popular with zumba fitness exercise adherents.

Chawki released his second single "Ana Bahwak" (I Adore You) also produced by RedOne

2014: Further success On occasion of the 2014 World Cup, Ahmed Chawki – now going with the mononym Chawki – was featured in a football-themed song "Magic in the Air" by Magic System, in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The song was a hit in France and Belgium and many other European charts. As in the case of "Habibi I Love You", its track was produced by RedOne.

He simultaneously released his solo single "Time of Our Lives" again produced by RedOne and released on RedOne Records. A French-language version as "Time of Our Lives (Notre Moment)" and an Arabic version "Farhat al 'Aalam" were also released.

Awards and nominations Africa Music Video Awards Ref

African Video of the Year Best North African Video Best African Dance Video Discography

Singles YearSinglesPeak positionsNotes FRA BEL (Wa) NED Dutch Top 40 NED Single Top 100 2013"Habibi I Love You" (featuring Pitbull) (France)(featuring Pitbull & Do) (Netherlands)1532(Tip)5Versions of "Habibi I Love You":2014"Time of Our Lives" 1513(Ultratip)Versions of "Time of Our Lives":2014"It's My Life (Don't Worry)"(featuring Dr. Alban) 187

Non charting single releases 2009: "Inta liya" 2010: "Ya Nasini Ya Habibi" (in Arabic يا ناسيني يا حبيبي) 2010: "Ghaly" (in Arabic غالي) 2014: "Ana Bahwak" (in Arabic أنا بهواك) 2014: "Come Alive" (featuring RedOne) 2015: "Kayna Wla Makaynach" (in Arabic كاينة ولا ماكيناش) 2016: "Tsunami" (in Arabic تسونامي) 2017: "Qahwa" (in Arabic قهوة) 2017: "Sin Tee" featuring Seeya (in Arabic سين تي) 2017: "Insaha" featuring Omar (in Arabic إنساها) 2018: "Amirah" (in Arabic أميرة) 2019: "Sofia" (in Arabic صوفيا) 2020: “Together We Rise” 2020: “Jawbni Lillah” Arabic جاوبني لله)

Featured in YearAlbumPeak positionsCertificationAlbum BEL (Vl) BEL (Wa) 2006"Head Bussas" (Pitbull feat. Ahmed Chawki) - - - - - - Unleashed, Vol. 4 Pitbull 2014"Magic in the Air" (Magic System feat. Chawki) 10 1 3 64 - 23 Magic System album Africainement vôtre 2018"Amsterdam Marrakech" (Ali B feat. Ahmed Chawki, Soufiane Eddyani & Brahim Darri) - - - - 153 - Magic System album Africainement vôtre