Daily Times

Star Moroccan rapper ElGrande Toto on Sunday apologized for causing offense through recent public statements in which he acknowledged using cannabis.

His original comments sparked an outcry in the country.

“I offer my apologies to anyone offended by my words, starting with the authorities and my public,” ElGrande Toto, whose real name is Taha Fahssi, told a packed press conference.

“We are not bad people. We rap, and rap isn´t bad.

“Rap is a particular language. Perhaps I did not make good use of it at the right time,” the 26-year-old Casablanca rap star said.

In late September, ElGrande Toto had told reporters who gathered after one of his concerts “I smoke hash — so what?

“It does not mean I set a bad example,” he added at the time.

Those comments, circulated widely on social media, provoked an outcry in the North African country.

On Sunday, he said: “This controversy was not planned. It just got too big, and it´s a good lesson for me.”