Raï is streetwise, a tough talker who will never mince words. It has two faces: one of good time, get-down party music, while the other talks of misery, poverty, corruption and war. While it's a musical style that's now often compared to hip-hop, it bears the unique features of its birthplace in Algeria and Morocco, with its irresistible mix of Berber, Arab, Bedouin and European flavors.
Raï first emerged in the 1930s from the underclass living in Algeria's western port of Oran, a city made up of Arab, French, Jewish and Spanish quarters. Given the city's rich diversity, it's only natural that the music of these communities found their way into this new genre. These styles included Spanish classical music and its local descendant, hawzi; the Bedouin melhun poetry set to music (bedoui); raucous bar songs called zendanis; and a women's-only genre called medh, poetic songs of praise to the Prophet Muhammad.
Raï (pronounced "rye") can be loosely translated as "point of view." The improvisational street poets who were raï's musical ancestors used this all-purpose statement ("This is my opinion"). While early raï addressed such social issues, it has also been used as a vehicle for intimate confessions of love. Regardless of the subject at hand, the lyrics are intensely personal. While not many recordings of early raï performers are available, one goldmine is: the works of the always expressive and sexually outspoken Cheikha Remitti, the matriarch of raï, who continues to perform and tour internationally.
Today's hits are stocked with electronic keyboards, techno backdrops and dub loops. The music's center of power has shifted, too. Although many singers' roots are in cities like Oran, the music has gone international. In France, raï is traditionally identified with the North Africans who live in and around Paris, but the music has proven to have immense crossover appeal in the last several years. Many top raï artists live in France, including Khaled and Cheb Mami, who recorded the smash hit "Desert Rose" with Sting, as well as Rachid Taha, who pairs up the kindred spirits of punk and raï with glee.
Many top-shelf raï records are made in France, and several albums have gone on to become blockbuster hits in Europe, appealing to listeners of every ethnic background. At home in Algeria, raï has been rocked by the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism: One of its best-loved artists, Cheb Hasni, was assassinated in 1994 by members of the Armed Islamic Group near his Oran home. —Anastasia Tsioulcas
