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raï
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What is raï music?
Rai is a type of Algerian popular music that originated in the 1920s in Oran. It is a blend of Algerian and Western popular music styles that ran counter to accepted artistic and social norms.
Emerging after World War I, Rai originated with female Muslim singers called cheikhas, who sang about urban life's hardships in a raw, sometimes vulgar language. The name "rai" comes from the Algerian Arabic word for "opinion" or "advice," used by singers to fill time while improvising lyrics.
Younger musicians later updated the music, incorporating trumpets, saxophones, accordions, and elements of rock, flamenco, and jazz. In the 1980s, drum machines, synthesizers, and electric guitars were added.
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Where did raï music originally come from?
Rai is a type of Algerian popular music that originated in the 1920s in Oran. It is a blend of Algerian and Western popular-music styles.
Oran was known as "little Paris" after World War I, a melting pot of cultures with nightclubs. Female Muslim singers called cheikhas sang about urban life, using raw language that appealed to the disadvantaged. Their music was called raï, from the Arabic word for "opinion." Cheikha Rimitti el Reliziana became a musical luminary in the raï tradition by the early 1940s.
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What are some common instruments used in raï?
Rai is a form of Algerian popular music that originated in the 1920s in Oran. It blends local Algerian and Western popular-music styles anchor text.
Initially, female Muslim singers called cheikhas, sang to the accompaniment of pottery drums and end-blown flutes. After Algeria's independence in 1962, younger musicians modernized raï by replacing traditional instruments with trumpets, saxophones, and accordions, incorporating elements of rock, flamenco, and jazz. In the 1980s, drum machines, synthesizers, and electric guitars were added.
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What topics do raï songs often talk about?
Rai is a form of Algerian popular music that originated in the 1920s in Oran. It is a blend of Algerian and Western popular-music styles that gained prominence as a world-music genre in the late 1980s.
Initially, female Muslim singers called cheikhas sang about the harsh realities of urban life in a raw and often controversial manner. After Algeria's independence in 1962, younger musicians modernized raï by incorporating elements of rock, flamenco, and jazz, while maintaining the abrasive quality of the lyrics.
In the 1990s, raï music's celebration of a carefree lifestyle led Islamic extremists to issue a death sentence against Cheb Khaled, a famous rai singer, and those who shared his ideas, which forced him to move to France.
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How did modern pop and electronic sounds influence raï music?
In the 1980s, younger Algerian musicians updated raï by integrating modern pop and electronic sounds. They incorporated drum machines, synthesizers, and electric guitars, distinguishing themselves from older musicians by adopting the title Cheb (male) or Chaba (female), meaning "young." This evolution helped raï assimilate diverse musical styles, contributing to its popularity and emergence in the world music market.
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Who are some famous raï musicians, and how did they change the style?
Raï is a genre of Algerian music that originated in the 1920s in Oran, mixing Algerian and Western styles.
Key figures who changed raï include:
- Cheikha Rimitti el Reliziana A musical and linguistic luminary in the raï tradition, and among the music’s most prominent performers into the 21st century.
- Bellemou Messaoud and Belkacem Bouteldja Updated raï after Algeria's independence by incorporating trumpets, saxophones, and elements of rock, flamenco, and jazz.
- Cheb Khaled Known as the "king of raï," he gained international fame in the 1980s and 90s. Khaled incorporated new instruments and styles and is known for his rich, passionate voice.
- Cheb Mami Another significant figure who helped introduce raï to Western audiences, blending it with reggae, funk, salsa, and hip-hop.
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raï, a type of Algerian popular music that arose in the 1920s in the port city of Oran and that self-consciously ran counter to accepted artistic and social mores. An amalgam of local Algerian and Western popular-music styles, raï emerged as a major world-music genre in the late 1980s.
In the years just following World War I, the Algerian city of Oran—known as “little Paris”—was a melting pot of various cultures, full of nightclubs and bordellos; it was the place to go for a bawdy good time. Out of this milieu arose a group of female Muslim singers called cheikhas, who rejected the refined, classical poetry of traditional Algerian music. Instead, to the accompaniment of pottery drums and end-blown flutes, they sang about the adversity of urban life in a raw, gritty, sometimes vulgar, and inevitably controversial language that appealed especially to the socially and economically disadvantaged. The cheikhas further departed from tradition in that they performed not only for women but also and especially for men.
The music performed by the cheikhas was called raï. It drew its name from the Algerian Arabic word raï (“opinion” or “advice”), which was typically inserted—and repeated—by singers to fill time as they formulated a new phrase of improvised lyrics. By the early 1940s Cheikha Rimitti el Reliziana had emerged locally as a musical and linguistic luminary in the raï tradition, and she continued to be among the music’s most prominent performers into the 21st century.
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After Algeria achieved independence from France in 1962, the country’s younger musicians, notably Bellemou Messaoud and Belkacem Bouteldja, felt that raï needed to be updated in order to be viable in the new social and political atmosphere. They consequently worked to transform the music into a popular dance genre, replacing the traditional flutes and drums with trumpets, saxophones, accordions, and other instruments, while incorporating stylistic elements of rock, flamenco, jazz, and various local traditions. The abrasive quality of the lyrics, however, remained a hallmark of the genre.
Over the following decades, raï increasingly assimilated the sounds of the diverse musical styles that surfaced in Algeria. In the 1980s drum machines, synthesizers, and electric guitars were added to the mix, and singers adopted the title of Cheb (male) or Chaba (female), meaning “young,” to distinguish themselves from the older musicians who continued to perform in the original style. Among the most prominent performers of the new raï were Chaba Fadela, Cheb Hamid, and Cheb Mami. However, by the time the first international raï festival was held in Algeria in 1985, Cheb Khaled had become virtually synonymous with the genre. More festivals followed in Algeria and abroad, and raï became a popular and prominent new genre in the emergent world-music market.
Raï audiences increased exponentially in the 1990s, propelled largely by Cheb Khaled’s stylistic innovations—such as the incorporation of pedal steel guitars and Asian string instruments in his song, “N’ssi N’ssi”—as well as by his rich, passionate voice. Khaled, who dropped Cheb from his name as he grew older, continued to celebrate a carefree lifestyle, conveying a message that ultimately led Islamic extremists to issue a fatwa, or death sentence, against him and those who espoused his ideas; this prompted Khaled to move to France. In Algeria younger artists, including Cheb Hasni, Cheb Nasro, and Cheb Tahar, filled the void created by Khaled’s departure. In 1994, however, the raï community was jolted by the murder in Oran of Cheb Hasni by a militant Islamic group. In the wake of the assassination, new social and political constraints arose that effectively stunted the growth of raï in Algeria. Outside of Algeria, however, raï remained a dynamic tradition, endlessly absorbing new style features from virtually any music with which it came in contact. In the early 21st century the music’s most prominent exponents were—for the most part—the children of North African immigrants to France.