Singers of raï are called cheb (shabb, young) as opposed to sheikh (shaykh, old), the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradition arose in cities like Oran, Relizane and Mostaganem, primarily among the poor. Traditionally sung by men, at the turn of the 20th century, female singers became common. Raï musicians as early as the 1930s were singing about social issues which affected native populations. These ranged from disease to the policing of European colonies.
History of Rai Music .
Raï began in 1900 : in western Algeria but came into its own in the harbour city Oran during the 1920s. Its basis was in Arabic love poetry and Bedouin folk music. Traditional rai had two styles; female meddahas who sang for other women at private gatherings, and the more ribald lyrics of the cheikhas (including Rimitti) who added more Bedouin rhythms and performed in cafes, bars, bordellos, accompanied by percussion and wailing "gasba" (rosewood flute). Oran's French colonial population in conjunction with its proximity to Morocco and Spain, added further to the cultural cocktail.
Modern Raï Music
Began in the 1950s and 60s. Male singers - cheikhs (lit. old, or, master) introduced violin and accordion. Most well-known was the heavily Western influenced Bellemou Messaoud who incorporated the trumpet, violin, lute from the other modernists, adding an 'call and response' echo effect infused with jazz, cha cha, and, mambo flavours. This rhythm and melody gave way in the late 1970s and early 1980s to the pop style of raï pioneered by Ahmad Baba Rachid in Tlemcen. The pop-singers called themselves "Cheb" (young) to underline the break they were making from the self-contained, rich poetry of the cheikhs. Instrumentation consisted of; bass guitars, drum machines and the synthesiser, though the Western technology did not sacrifice the traditional sound at the altar of western rock. Traditional melodic structures were now "sandwiched between double percussion of Western drums and darbuka " in a quarter-tone scale - with denser, faster and more streamlined rhythms : accented rhythms may be "played at the speed of a camel loping somewhere in Jamaica with eastern tunes over a funk or dub backing" but inspiration comes from songs of the 1930s and 40's, berrah (criers) from Oran's Medina J'dida, and, suburban chants are mixed with bidhaoui (Casablancan electronic music).
International success
Cheb Khaled was the first international superstar, though his popularity did not extend to the United States, Latin America and certain other areas. His 1988 Kutché album did the most to popularize him and the whole genre of raï. Other prominent performers of the 1980s included Houari Benchenet, Raïna Raï, Mohamed Sahraoui, Cheb Mami, and Cheb Hamid.
International success grew in the 1990s, when Cheb Khaled's 1992 Khaled was a major French hit and also saw success in India and elsewhere. With Khaled no longer in Algeria, new stars began singing lover's raï, a sentimental, pop-ballad form best-known for stars like Cheb Tahar, Cheb Nasro and, especially, Cheb Hasni. Later in the decade, funk, hip hop and other influences were added to raï, especially by performers like the French star Faudel and raï-rock fusionist Rachid Taha, the latter of which took raï music and fused it with rock. He takes themes from punk and mainstream rock music and blends them with traditional raï. The artist does not call his creation raï music, but rather describes it as a unique combination of folk raï and the harsh sounds of punk. Another notable mix of cultures in Arabic music of the late 1990s came through songs released by artist Aldo though this is generally referred to as Franco-Arabic music not strictly raï music.
Source : wikipedia
Rai Music Videos
Cheb Bilal - Dayer Dayer
Chab Khaled - Aicha
Cheb Bilal - Dayer Dayer
Chab Khaled - Aicha
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