Journey Into Raï
“Raï has been regarded as the symbol of cynicism and has become as essential to the identity of the Algerians as the Blues was to Blacks in America.”
Cheikha Rimitti
Raï music — which draws its name from the Arabic for "opinion" or "advice" — is a central part of the North African music-scape. And yet it was banned from broadcasting in Algeria, the country of its birth, until the 1980s because it was considered to be too subversive. This type of controversy and unwieldy provocation is all integral to what makes raï music so gritty and real.
As Cheb Mimo writes about the mixtape he curated for us this month: "Raï is a music genre that originates from the rich cultural tapestry of Algeria. It uses the language of the streets to articulate views about life in urban settings. Raï music places a significant emphasis on lyrical improvisation, often incorporating diverse musical influences to create its unique sound. This genre boldly challenges societal norms and the cultural mainstream, making it a powerful voice for the underrepresented in Algeria. Those who feel they have little to lose and much to express find a strong connection with raï music."
This musical genre traces its roots to the Algerian port city of Oran in the 1920s. In contrast to the Chebs and Chebas that own the genre today, the original custodians of this music were female Muslim singers known as Cheikhas. These women “rejected the refined, classical poetry of traditional Algerian music” and instead chose to sing provocatively in "gritty, controversial language" about the realities of urban life. A unique mix of Spanish, Egyptian, Algerian and Orani’s "own urban sounds", this was the raï music that you would find in sailor hangouts, local cafes, dive bars and bordellos.
Festival de la chanson Raï en France (1986), from left to right : Cheb Mami, Khaled, Cheb Hamid, Cheb Sahraoui, via Wikicommons
When Algeria gained its independence from the French in 1962, a new generation of musicians took on the mantel of the raï tradition, modernising it with the introduction of new instruments and musical styles. This new guard — which included names such as Bellemou Messaoud and Belkacem Bouteldja — transformed the genre with trumpets, saxophones, accordions and elements from jazz, rock and flamenco. This produced an “amalgam of local Algerian and Western popular music styles” that first enraptured the local, rebellious, youth and later became known as a world-music genre in the 1980s.
The 80s ushered in the era of drum machines, synthesizers and electric guitars, which in turn changed the genre once again. A new generation of iconic raï musicians followed: Cheb Fadela, Cheb Hamid, Cheb Mami and Cheb Khaled, amongst others.
In 1985, Algeria hosted the world’s first Raï festival and then Cheb Khaled became the very first Maghreb artist to read the global Top 50 with his song, “Didi”.
The 1994 murder of Cheb Hasni by a militant Islamic group sent shockwaves through the raï community. And in the shadow of “social and political restraints”, the growth of Algeria’s raï scene was stunted.
Cheika Rimitti
via YouTube
via Amazon Music
Known to many as the “Queen Mother of Raï”, Cheikha Rimitti was all at once one of the most revered yet controversial singers of the Islamic world. Her music directly took on subjects such as sex, politics and femininity, and life as a woman in Algeria — often with a recurring theme of “escape my any means necessary, whether emigration, drinking or sex.” She was born in rural Algeria and joined a travelling troupe with whom she established herself as a dance, singer and songwriter. Her 1954 song “Charrak Gattà”, in which she calls for sexual liberation for women, brought about a serious amount of controversy. Algeria’s first independent government immediately banned her from appearing on TV and radio and denounced her music as “folklore perverted by colonialism.” She subsequently went into exile in France. Over her career, she wrote over 200 songs, recorded 400 casettes and released more than 300 singles.
Cheb Hasni
Dubbed “Le Rossignol du Raï” or the “King of Sentimental Music”, Cheb Hasni is remembered for his sentimental lyrics and soft tones. His real rise to fame came with the release of “Beraka” in collaboration with fellow performer Chaba Zahouania which explicitly mentioned drunken sex. This shot Cheb Hasni to the limelight and made him a prominent target for Islamic fundamentalists. Cheb Hasni was murdered in 1994, most likely by a militant Islamist group.
Cheb Sahraoui
The first Raï musician to tour North America and to bring electronic synthesizer sounds into his music, Cheb Sahraoui is another fixture of the rai scene. For much of his career he sang alongside his wife Chaba Fadela, who had made her name as one of the first women in Algeria to defy bans on women singing in clubs.
Rachid Baba Ahmed
Rachid Baba Ahmed was a record producer, composer and singer who is often credited with popularising the genre on an international stage. He helped to launch the sub-genre of “pop raï” and was responsible for the successful careers of singers such as Chaba Fadela and Cheb Sahraoui. He too was murdered by Islamic Fundamentalists in 1995.
Listen to Cheb Mimo's curated mixtape which encapsulates these concepts of challenging societal norms and representing the unrepresented through sounds and lyrics. It should give you a good introduction to what raï music production looked like between the late 80s and the early 2000s.
