A Booba concert scheduled for June 21 in Casablanca has been cancelled by local authorities, amid a boycott campaign accusing the French rapper of sexism, AFP learned from the organizers on Tuesday.

Confirming a report on the website of Moroccan magazine Tel Quel, an official from the organization simply replied "yes" when asked whether Booba's show had been cancelled.

The same source, who requested anonymity, attributed the cancellation to a refusal from the prefecture of Casablanca-Anfa, where the rapper was due to perform.

Very popular in Morocco, Booba - Elie Yaffa by his real name - has been criticized on Moroccan social networks for having made "degrading remarks about Moroccan and North African women" in some of his songs.

Among the tracks criticized by the rapper: "E.L.E.P.H.A.N.T", where the star raps "petite Marocaine se tape Berlusconi", in reference to a Moroccan woman nicknamed Ruby who had taken part in the Italian ex-"Cavaliere"'s "bunga bunga" parties when she was a minor.

But also "Génération assassine", when Booba sings: "je vais à la Chicha que pour les beurettes".

An online petition to cancel the show has so far gathered almost 4,500 signatures. "Moroccans were offended to learn that the rapper Booba was going to perform in Morocco", reads the introduction to the petition.

The Club des avocats au Maroc, a professional association, has filed a complaint against Booba "for defamation and insults against Moroccan women", its president Mourad Elajouti confirmed to AFP, without giving further details.

The call to cancel the "Duc de Boulogne" concert had been supported by the French rapper of Moroccan origin Maes. Maes, a former Booba protégé, urged his followers on Twitter to sign the petition, calling out: "Know that you are not welcome".

The Islamist opposition party Justice et Développement (PJD) had also called for the concert to be cancelled in a written parliamentary question to the Minister of Youth and Culture.

Despite the boycott campaign, the organizers still believed the event could go ahead.

In 2017, the rapper had performed at one of the country's biggest festivals, Mawazine Rythmes du Monde in Rabat. According to local media, he drew a crowd of 100,000.

Although apparently not directly related, the cancellation of the French rapper's concert comes against a backdrop of persistent diplomatic freeze between Rabat and Paris.

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