Hangin' Out In 100b

Listening to “Open Sesame”, Leila K’s massive nineties dance hit soon put me in a haze of giddy nostalgia. It brought me back to school parties and holding hands with the second cutest boy in class. (The first cutest boy had a hand-holding relationship with some other stoopid girl.) But the Moroccan via Sweden ragga-rap-europop songstress life’s story is so sad, the giddiness soon turned into a sad, droopy pool of pity. It starts out nice and promising, not a cloud on the horizon. She was discovered in 1988 by musical duo Rob’n'Razz but found out she didn’t need them to score hits, as “Open Sesame” proved in 1993. Her raw voice and the catchy chorus could be heard in clubs all across Europe and the UK. She had one last hit two years later, but since then it got very quiet.

Then five years ago, there were disturbing reports that the former chart topper was living on the streets and supposedly prostituting herself to finance her drug habit. That’s as rock bottom as anybody can get, whether you used to be a pop star or a sewer inspector. Yet recently there was a rumor going around she was planning a comeback by the end of last summer, but I don’t know how that worked out. The latest tidbit is that she’s a lifeguard at her local pool, which is a whole heap of steps up from homeless-junkie-street walker. Well, whatever else happens to Leila K and her music career, I hope she’s safe and doing well.

   LeilaK-OpenSesame.mp3″>Leila K – Open Sesame