Rai and its fundamentals

Cheb Khaled

To be honest the bare imagination of popular music from the North of Africa perforating dance floors all through Africa and globally was hard to construct in the immediate past. North Africa well to perception in the global village served as a resilient source of professional football players, undeservedly thought of as a haven of Islamic fundamentalism, visualised as an enclave of the harsh desert climate and a region fluctuating between allegiances to the Arab world (Arab League) and the incidental belonging to Africa (African Union and its predecessor Organisation of African Unity). These points of reference are all not exhaustive in availing a crystal definition of North African life.

In Algeria, a country that borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and a former French colony, sounds emerge with a tapestried identity founded in the cultural fabric of pre-historic on to present day Algeria. The music genre dubbed ‘Rai’ which is a marker of local and diasporic Algerian identity has endured and survived reincarnation in decades of social dynamism to become one of the most popular forms of North African popular musics. From the arid nation of Algeria, the genre conjures the linguistic and historical composite that Algeria is and offers a coherent and adherent diversity to the high table of world music.

As a traditional (early) form of folk music in Algeria,’Rai’ served as an expressive entertainment where ‘Meddahas’ (beautiful women) sung at different social functions with or sometimes without pay. Their captivating narratives bore endearing audiences to their performances. The Islamic context of Algerian society created a polarization of male and female ‘Rai’ performers who had clear gender distinctions in the audiences they addressed. ‘Rai’ a blend of improvisation with variation of rhythm and harmony has always had its proponents gracing public social functions like weddings and circumcision ceremony. In some cases performers made their mark in bar (public) performances.

‘Rai’ began in the early twentieth century as an offspring of traditional Arabic poetry and Bedouin folk music (from the west of Algeria amongst the Bedouin Arabs). Whereas ‘Rai’ (which is Arabic for truth, frank, candid or at least opinion) was a youthful musical uprising with artists identity as young ‘Cheb’ (for males) and ‘Chaba’ for female, the earlier music and poetry from which it drew its tradition had older artists referred to as ‘Cheiks’ (for male) and ‘Meddahas’(for female) and the youthful identity of the ‘chebs’ and ‘chabas’ signified a break from the older generation. One of the first such older generation artists Cheik Remitti was a household name in the 1930s.In 1960s Bellemou Messaud who played the sax and trumpet started experimental fusion preparing the ground for ‘Rai’. In the 1970s, Ahmad Baba Rachid spearheaded the move to pop ‘Rai’.

The ‘Rai’ musicians assumed lead performance roles and in concordance with Fiske’s anti-establishment notion of the popular ‘Rai’ generated themes critical of the social establishment particularly religion and the older generation. The expression of opinion was integral as the artists voiced opinion of ‘young Algerians repulsive of conservativism’. ‘Rai’ in the public sphere with simplistic lyrics spoke and still speaks of love and celebration of life, which was a shift from preceding tradition where these were private. The vocalisation was reminiscent of the vocal patterns of Muezzins and Berrahs (criers).

The ‘Rai’ artists also broke away from the exclusive use of traditional instruments to incorporate and appropriate foreign instruments. ‘Rai’ had instruments like the violin (strings) and accordion (keys) added to the traditional. ‘Rai’ was malleable and neo-liberal in acceptance of foreign influences. French, Moroccan and Spanish linguistic, melodic , rhythmic and instrumental influences became apparent due to the geo-historical position Algeria was situated in. ‘Rai’ had its genesis in coastal areas like Oran(also the setting of Albert Camus’ metaphysical novel ‘the plague’) where it was possible to realise foreign influences.

Digital sound properties revamped the music as the ‘rebellious’ artists sought global recognition for their art form (the commercialisation was also an act of rebellion against the economic predicament that Algeria posed for the youthful artists).Drum machines ,Samplers and Synthesizers replaced or were combined with the ‘lyre’ , ‘harp’ , ‘horns’ , ‘flutes’ , ‘pipes’ and percussion of traditional Arabic music. The production moved to state of the art recording studios with local and foreign producers shaping the direction of the music. This hybridisation propelled ‘Rai’ into a genre of commercial significance.

Cheb Mami

The live performance of ‘Rai’ is a wondrous event where the audience and performer become entwined like climbing plants. The occasion is filled with social commentary but also entertaining through gesticulation and dance (‘Rai’ songs are extremely danceable).

Whereas the performer leads in the delivery of the song, the audience responds to the calls of the performer time and again making it a two-way street performance. The performers restructure the songs to the modes of engagement with the audience. The audience claps, applauds, and sings along as the performer obliges to calls of encore or creates extensions of the songs.

In the proceeding years, ‘Rai’ grew into a social phenomenon with celebrity status for many of its stars: Cheb Fadela, Cheb Mami, Cheb Sahraouj, Cheb Hasni and Cheb Khaleed (who has actually made ‘Rai’ attain a cross over status.) were mainstream artists out selling preceding genres. The marketing of ‘Rai’ saw gross cassette sales and the interest of record labels with a titanic interest in the music. Labels like ‘Stern’ in England and ‘Barclay’ in France have further optimized its commercial value.

Algeria is one of a few African countries where the copyright law is observed (Article 54 of the Algerian constitution protects the rights of creative authors). This protects the artistic rights of the musicians performing and recording ‘Rai’. However the establishment is also wary of the lyrical content of the music in a predominantly Islamic country.

The ministry of information and culture regulates the cultural zone in Algeria and many times censors the music. The Islamic party is also crucial in the effort to repudiate the genre as it considers it an axis of evil.

Several ‘Rai’ artists are endangered by the status quo.(Cheb Hasni was murdered in 1994) and their solace has been migrating to foreign countries where they are safer and also have the environment to cross over to global markets.