(The following is adopted from Men and Popular Music in Algeria: The Social Significance of Raïby Marc Schade-Poulsen)
Several terms that are essential to understanding the story of raï are explained here.
Raï (pronounced "rye") literally means "a way of seeing," "an opinion," "a point of view," "advice," but also "an aim," "a plan" and even "a thought," "a judgment," "a will." In Orania it is widely said that in the past people went to a shikh, a poet of malhun, to ask for his raï, his advice, expressed as poetry. Many, even raï musicians and singers, will say today that this is the real raï.
But the word also appears as a stopgap expression in a number of songs of a more popular kind, as one finds "aman, aman" in Turkish songs, "ya lil, ya lil" in Egyptian songs, and "dan dani" in the poetry of the shikhs (all of these expressions are also found in raï), or the "oh no, oh no" or "yeah, yeah" of rock and blues lyrics.
Raï's rhythmic and tonal universe originates from western Algeria, with its center of gravity lying between Relizane, Saida, Sidi Bel Abbès, Oujda (in Morocco), and Oran. The emergence of raï is generally associated with the migration into the cities of western Algeria, starting with the world depression in the 1930s. Other sources, however, mention elements which are associated with the raï music of today, such as the "repetitive" musical form, improper forms of expression, women entertaining men, and games of competition, indicating that raï as a genre goes much further back in history.
One important element in raï has been that it is danceable, with simple but characteristic lyrics. It also uses the local dialect, with noticeable influences from Spanish, French, literary Arabic, rural, and city dialects. This has been true of popular local poetry since the middle of the nineteenth century. Another important element in raï is the incorporation of Western instruments into a local repertoire. This is not a new thing either, since it has been reported throughout this century. In fact raï relates to a multitude of sources, which can be best understood by looking at the cheb, the shikh, the shikha, the maddaha, and the wahrani.
Cheb (shabb) is the title given to male singers of the new musical style. The women are called chabas (shabbas). Cheb means young man (chaba, young woman) and must be seen in relation to shikh and shikha, which designate experienced or older singers. The fact that a great number of singers use the word in their artistic names has been seen as a novelty and as a self-conscious label expressing a rising youth identity in Algeria. But not all raï singers use it. It is as much the creation of publishers as of singers, and the expression is not new. As early as 1957 a songwriter of the light versions of wahrani presented himself as Cheb Mohammed Benzerga.
The title of shikh is generally accorded to a learned man to suggest that he is an educated, mature, practicing Muslim, but in relation to raï it is associated with poets or interpreters of malhun, sung poetry in the local dialect which has existed in the Maghreb since at least the sixteenth century. The poetry is a highly elaborate art form which takes years to learn through an apprenticeship, and it consists of thousands of verses and qasidas (poems) dealing with historical events, satire, religion, heroism, and love. It exists all over the Maghreb, and in the Oran area is associated with the badawi (Bedouin) styles of recitation accompanied by at least two gasbas and agallal.
As noted, many in Orania consider the shikhs to be performers of the true raï. The Algerian press in general, as well as a number of scholarly commentaries, have described raï as a degenerated form of the malhun. But as we shall see, this is not true, even if parts of the shikhs' poetry and style of declamation are found in the raï of today. In Oran the shikhs' poetry was highly esteemed in general, but seldom listened to by the young, and in many cases it was not understood, even among raï singers who recorded extracts from the shikhs' songs.
While shikh is a title with a positive connotation, the feminine shikha is more ambivalent. The shikha performs with male instruments, the gasbas and gallal, sometimes also with other female dancers. Her art is built on a spontaneity appropriate primarily for men, and this in a Muslim society constitutes an act of moral transgression. The places of performance have been wa'adas (religious festivals), weddings, mahshashas (taverns with hashish), taverns, and pleasure parties (bastas). Historically, shikhas are associated with brothels and prostitution. Their names and recordings have been an inspiration for the raï singers of today.
The expression maddaha comes from the root word madh, "to praïse, celebrate, sing religious poetry." The maddaha is a woman versed in religious as well as profane songs, who sings at different ceremonies such as weddings and circumcisions. In the early 1990s, the maddaha performed with a female group of instrumentalists; one was a violinist and the others played percussion instruments such as the tbila (a small clay drum beaten with a stick), the darbuka, the gallal, or the banndir while singing response choruses. Like the shikhas, they play in a generally spontaneous style. Their reputations, however, are more positive than those of the shikas since they play exclusively for women; as such they are considered less transgressive. Some are known to have been poets in their own right, for example, Khaira Es-Sebsajiyya and the binat (girls of) Baghdadi. Many female raï singers started their careers as maddahas, and they still perform in the acoustic genre at female gatherings. They too have had an important impact on the male raï of today.
Wahrani (Oran music) is associated with the music developed in the city centers of Orania, mainly Oran, from the mid-1930s through the flourishing period of the 1950s. Broadly speaking, the wahrani is an adaptation of the malhun to city instruments (such as the 'uud, the accordion, the banjo, the piano, etc.), to the melody and rhythm of the Oran area, and to a tone universe relating to the mass-produced music of the Arab world and to Spanish, French, and even Latin American songs. It has provided present-day raï with a repertoire of instrumental sounds, melodic patterns, and combinations of rhythm. However, raï must not be confused with wahrani. Raï musicians do not possess the same finesse of musical approach as is found in the wahrani, and the poetical ideas are not nearly as elaborate. On the other hand, electric raï has adopted and recorded wahrani songs and given new texts to wahrani tunes, while composers of wahrani have created songs for raï singers.
This brief overview of the main elements in raï shows that this musical genre does not have clearly demarcated lines. When I was in Oran, however, people frequently referred to the first records after independence on which the "spontaneous" form of raï was adapted to the instrumentation of the cityas the beginning of raï. The best known was a 1965 recording by a twelve-year-old, Bouteldja Belkacem, of two songs by Cheikha Ouashma: "Ziziya" (Ziziya told me to have a party at her place tonight, Ziziya told me to spend the night with her) and "Sidi l-hakim" (Mister judge, where are they taking me?). So there are considered to be definite origins.
One important early raï musician was Bellemou, a trumpet player who before independence played in the local marching band of Ain Temouchent. After 1962, he expanded his repertoire by combining trumpet and saxophone with local percussion instruments, thus replacing reed flutes with brass; he performed at events such as football matches and wedding processions. A third notable development took place in the raï groups of Sidi Bel Abbes, who replaced reed flutes with the electric guitar and the wah-wah pedal. The earliest name associated with this genre is Mohammed Zargui, who died in 1981.
At the end of the 1970s, the key instrument of raï in Oran was the accordion. Western music, Hindi film music, and Moroccan music (such as Nass el Ghiwane and Jil Jillala) were popular. A great number of musicians were also versed in the popular songs of the area. They would meet with musicians like the Nawi brothers, the Qada brothers, Mokhtar the drummer, and later Hocine the keyboard player, who were all playing Western pop and rock, and they became among the first to introduce electric instruments to raï. Violinists like Kouider Berkane and Abdallah Rerbal and the drabki player Hocine, on the other hand, contributed to maintaining continuity with wahrani music.
Another important musician was Mohammed Maghni, one of the few in raï to have formal musical traïning and practical experience as a keyboard player in the pop group the Students. He created new arrangements in raï -- with feel-ins and riffs from rock, disco, and sometimes jazz -- within the Oranian style of phrasing. The best known "electric" musicians, however, were Rachid and Fethi, the Baba brothers, lovers of Western pop and music technology (with some ability to invest), who were the first to introduce the complete synthesizer and drum-machine sound into raï in 1982. Later, they invested money in the best multi-track studio and recording facilities in North Africa and were clever enough to employ traïned musicians like Ben Ali and Samir.
Click here to listen to samples of three Raï songs.
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
Contact: cmes@menic.utexas.edu
