The Maghreb (Arabic: المغرب , Berber: Tamazɣa) is usually defined as much or most of the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. The traditional definition as being the region including the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and (usually) Libya, was later superseded, especially since the 1989 formation of the Arab Maghreb Union, by the inclusion of a fifth nation, Mauritania, and of the disputed territory of Western Sahara (mostly controlled by Morocco). During the Al-Andalus era in Spain, the Maghreb's inhabitants, Maghrebis, were known as "Moors"; the Muslim areas of Spain in those times were usually included in contemporary definitions of the Maghreb---hence the use of 'Moor' or 'Moors' to describe the Muslim inhabitants of Spain by Christian and other Western sources.

Historical terms for the region or various portions of it include Numidia, Libya, and Africa in classical antiquity. The term maghrib is in origin an Arabic word for "west, occident", denoting the westernmost territories that fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. Today, it is used as a proper noun denoting the Maghreb, also known as المغرب العربي al-maghrib al-ʻarabīy "the Arab Maghreb" or المغرب الكبير al-maghrib al-kabīr "the great Maghreb" in Arabic. The definite form al-maghrib is used for the country of Morocco in particular. The Berber language alternative term for al-maghrib, Tamazgha, has been popularized by Berber activists since the last quarter of the 20th century.

Kenza Farah (born July 8, 1986) is an Algerian singer. She is considered^{[by whom?]} the second internet success story in the French music industry, after Yelle. Her album Authentik, released in 2007, went gold in its second week.

Born into a family of six children, Kenza Farah born in Bejaia (Kabylie - Algeria) but grew up in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille. At age 14, she began playing shows neighborhood and wins singing contest. Following the singing competition, Kenza Farah meet the producers that allow it to record some songs in the studio, including Mon Ange, Tresor and Il ma trahie. It is then noticed by the producer Abdel.B which allows him to sign the production of an album in December 2006 with an independent label, Karismatik.

Authentik is an album of R & B, Hip Hop Soul and French, written and performed by French-Algerian singer Kenza Farah. The album contains 18 tracks (including two on the reissue) and guest appearances with Sefyu, Le Rat Luciano, Idir, Big Ali and The Silence of the Mosques. It was released June 11, 2007 in France.

Ilham al-Madfai (Arabic: إلهام المدفعي‎) (born c. 1942) is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. al-Madfai's synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a revered and popular artist in his native country and throughout the Middle East. Beginning in 1999, al-Madfai released a string of albums on EMI's Arabia label, including the platinum self-titled Ilham al-Madfai (1999), Live at the Hard Rock Cafe (2001), Baghdad (2003) and The Voice of Iraq: The Best of Ilham al-Madfai (2005) and Dishdasha (2009). He has been nicknamed 'the Baghdad Beatle'.

Al-Madfai began studying guitar at age twelve. He formed The Twisters in 1961, Iraq's first rock and roll band. Following a three year sojourn in Kuwait with the group, al-Madfai moved to England to complete an engineering degree. While in London, he became a regular at the Baghdad Cafe, where he met fellow musicians Paul McCartney, Donovan and Georgie Fame. Returning to Baghdad in 1967, he began to mix Western and Eastern instrumentation and rhythms. Al-Madfai developed a major following in Iraq in the 1970s, but Saddam Hussein's rise to power in 1979 compelled the artist to leave and take construction jobs around the Gulf for much of the following decade.