| Taha Fahssi | |||||||||
| Birth Name: | Taha Fahssi طه فحصي | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | day=3 month=8 year=1996 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Casablanca, Morocco | ||||||||
| Occupation: | Rapper | ||||||||
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Taha Fahssi (Arabic: طه فحصي, born 3 August 1996), known by his stage name ElGrandeToto or Toto, is a Moroccan rapper, typically blending Darija, French, and English into his songs and performances. He was the most listened artist in the MENA region on Spotify in 2021, with more than 135 million streams in 178 countries.[1]
Having started his career in 2016, ElGrandeToto quickly enjoyed success, especially with his song "Pablo" (2017), which propelled him to the forefront of the Moroccan scene.[2]
In 2018, he released his first EP, entitled Illicit.
In 2020, Taha was the eighth most streamed Arab artist in MENA on Deezer, and his song "Hors Série" was the seventh most streamed song on the platform.[3] In the same year, he won the title of "Best Hip-Hop/Rap Artist" in the 2020 African Entertainment Awards USA.[4]
In 2020, Fahssi lost his mother and released the song "Mghayer" in her tribute on 5 January 2021, which is now the most viewed music video on his YouTube channel with over 83 million views.
In March 2021, Toto's debut album Caméléon was ranked among the top six global album debuts worldwide by Spotify, an unprecedented achievement for any Arab singer. In the same year, the artist entered the Forbes list of music stars in the Arab world, which includes the 50 most successful singers and bands of 2021.[5]
In 2021, he was awarded with the title of both most streamed Arab artist and most streamed artist in the MENA region by Spotify.[6]
As Morocco's main sport is football, Toto has found a liking to it, being a supporter of Wydad AC (revealed in "Pablo" (2017), when he says: "Wydadi nebghi l'7amra wakha lwalid farawi").
On 12 May 2022 while performing at the Megarama, Casablanca, ElGrandeToto received his first music recording certification from his collaboration with the Nigerian Afrobeats singer CKay on the remix of his 2021 hit song "Love Nwantiti". It was certified diamond in France by the SNEP[7] with more than 15 million streams from premium accounts, making ElGrandeToto the first Moroccan artist performing in Darija to achieve a diamond certification in France.
ElGrandeToto is currently under an exclusive license agreement with RCA Records, a division of Sony Music France.[8]
Toto's management team includes Anissa Jalab, former manager of Damso, manager of Manal and head of Wagram Belgium.[9]
On June 13, ElGrandeToto announced his full tour schedule on his Instagram (Twenty-Seven Tour), including shows in France (Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nîmes, Lyon, Marseille), Belgium (Brussels), United Kingdom (London) and Canada (Montréal). He also announced dates in the United States, but he wrote on his Instagram story, he had been having troubles with the visas and the concerts in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York ended up being cancelled. Before releasing the 27 album on November 24, 2023, Toto released the single "Dellali" featuring the Moroccan-Belgian rapper Hamza, along with a video clip.
The 27 album release appeared in Times Square and on the screen of the Toronto Eaton Center. Toto's second album climbed in the 3rd spot of Spotify's Top Album Debut Global Chart, an incredible achievement for the Casablanca-born star. In only three days, he had 10 million streams and almost all his tracks from 27 were in the Top 50 Spotify Chart. ElGrandeToto's album contains tracks featuring Hamza, Morad, Oxlade, Beny Jr, Unknown T and Rondodasosa. A week later was the concert in Olympia Montréal, on December 1, 2023. ElGrandeToto revealed in an interview on Le Warm Up FM on YouTube that he did not expect the Montréal crowd to know all the lyrics of his entire album within only a week of the release of 27. Taha Fahssi then added more concerts to his tour, such as le Zénith de Paris, le Zénith de Rabat (Morocco) and a concert in Casablanca (Morocco) on April 27.
On December 26, 2023, he shared his new store with 27 merch, including, T-shirts, hoodies and CDs (including bonus tracks "Blue Love" and "Arabia"), which can be accessed on his Instagram. Within a few days, his packs were all sold out and announced on his Instagram story a restocking of everything.
His new nickname following his recent project is now Es el EGT de BNJ pronounced in Spanish. Es el EGT (standing for ElGrandeToto) de BNJ (standing for Benjdia, the neighbourhood in Casablanca where Taha Fahssi grew up in) means "It is the ElGrandeToto from Benjdia".
In October 2022, Taha Fahssi publicly apologized after sparking a controversy about cannabis consumption during a festival's press conference in September 2022, where he defended his recreational use of the drug as following: "I smoke hash -- so what? ... It does not mean I set a bad example".[10] [11] [12]
Following these events, The rapper was taken into custody after complaints were filed by "three artists, a journalist, and a policeman". An investigation is yet to be made by the authorities focusing on all his publications, digital content and statements "likely to contain elements punishable by law".[13] Taha's lawyer stated that his client should not be used as a tool to "settle political scores".[14]
Later, most complaints were withdrawn, and the public prosecution office in Casablanca decided to release the rapper with a 20,000 MAD bail. Taha is yet to appear before the Ain Sebaa Court.[15] On 18 January 2023, A court in Casablanca sentenced Toto to serve an 8 month suspended prison sentence, in addition to paying a fine of MAD10,000.[16] [17]
On July 20, 2023, a concert in Madrid turned controversial when El Grande Toto had a strong negative reaction to a fan's act of cultural appreciation. According to a tradition in Morocco, fans typically express admiration for shickats, traditional dancers and performers, by tucking currency notes onto their clothing. However, when a fan performed this gesture by placing 20 euro notes onto El Grande Toto's shirt, the rapper interpreted it as a humiliating act. In response, he launched into a tirade of vulgar language directed at the audience.[18]