 His albums "Fire Within", "Gift of the Gnawa" and "Trance" topped the charts for World Music Albums, World Music Charts Europe, New World and CMJ’s Radio Top 150 and were selected by "Rolling Stone" as one of the "Hot Picks of ’94.His powerful performances and sounds also resulted in letters of admiration from former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, television host Jay Leno and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as from executives at the "New York Times" and the British Broadcasting Corporation.In 2002 Hakmoun teamed up with American-born producer Fabian Alsultany to record a new album, "The Gift".