Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia and John Legend drop new video for their recently released 'Minefields'. Twitter
Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia and John Legend drop new video for their recently released 'Minefields'. Twitter
Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia and John Legend drop new video for their recently released 'Minefields'. Twitter
Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia and John Legend drop new video for their recently released 'Minefields'. Twitter

Music

John Legend and Faouzia drop dramatic music video for 'Minefields'

The video stars the duo playing the piano in a Californian field and surrounded by water

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

February 02, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter Faouzia, 20, and American singer John Legend, 42,  have dropped a  new music video for the recently released single Minefields.

Featuring the musical duo playing a piano in a Californian field, surrounded by water and singing amid a glorious sunrise, the video was released on Faouzia's YouTube channel on Thursday. It clocked up 238,709 views in 17 hours.

Directed by Emmy-award winner Kyle Cogan, the two singers met in person for the first time during the shoot of the video, as the track has been recorded remotely. Faouzia said working with Legend was an "incredible experience".

The pair shot the video in two locations in California, first at Bonelli park in San Dimas, then at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley. Minefields was co-written by Faouzia with Sam Martin, Ali Tamposi, Johnny Goldstein and Jacob Kasher. The song is about navigating the trials and tribulations of a star-crossed love affair.

The powerful music video ends with a dedication to Ryan Brady, Atlantic Records' VP of marketing, who was killed in a car accident at age 34, in Los Angeles in December.

Who is Faouzia?

The talented singer counts the recently announced DJ Mag world number one DJ David Guetta as a fan.

Born in Casablanca before moving to Canada at the age of 5, Faouzia (full name Faouzia Ouihya) showcased her talent when she scooped the 2015 Song of the Year Award at the Canadian music competition La Chican Electrique.

Her rising clout caught the ears of Guetta, who enlisted her to perform on the song Battle for his 2018 album 7.

Since then, Faouzia has gone on to perform numerous club sets and recorded her debut EP, Stripped. Released in August, it contains piano ballad versions of previously released singles, including How it All Works Out and Bad Dreams.

In describing her talent, Guetta told French newspaper Le Matin that Faouzia has a voice of her own.

"It is very powerful and with a particular style," he said. "She also has a very special vibrato. It's great to be able to use the credibility I have in music to be able to showcase other people's talent."

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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