Raï, sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called cheb (شاب) or cheba (شابة), i.e. young, as opposed to sheikh, i.e. old, the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradition arose in the city of Oran, primarily among the poor. Traditionally sung by men, by the end of the 20th century, female singers became common. The lyrics have concerned social issues such as disease and the policing of European colonies that affected native populations.
Algerian music is virtually synonymous with Raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on these poetic forms. Algerian music came to include suites called nuubaat. Later derivatives include rabaab and hawzii.
Moroccan music varies greatly between geographic regions and social groups. It is influenced by musical styles including Arab, Berber, Andalusi, Mediterranean, Saharan, West African, and others.
Articles related to Algeria include:
Boumerdès is a province (wilaya) of northern Algeria, located in the Kabylia region, between Algiers and Tizi-Ouzou, with its capital at the coastal city of Boumerdès just east of Algiers.
North Africa has contributed considerably to popular music, especially Egyptian classical music alongside el Gil, Algerian raï and Chaabi. The broad region is sometimes called Maghreb, and the term Maghrebian music is in use. For a variety of reasons Libya does not have as extensive nor popular a tradition as its neighbours. Folk music abounds, however, despite frequent condemnation and suppression from governments, existing in multiple forms across the region—the Berbers, Sephardic Jews, Tuaregs, Copts and Nubians, for example, retain musical traditions with their ancient roots.
Rachid Taha was an Algerian singer and activist based in France described as "sonically adventurous". His music was influenced by many different styles including rock, electronic, punk and raï.
Berber music refers to the musical traditions of the Berbers, a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Arab migration to the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their usage of the mostly mutually unintelligible Berber languages. Berber music varies widely across North Africa. It is stylistically diverse, with songs being predominantly African rhythms and a stock of oral literature.
Blida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e. bulaydah, is a diminutive of the Arabic word belda, city.
Sidi Bel Abbès, also called Bel Abbès, is the capital of the Sidi Bel Abbès wilaya, Algeria. It is named after Sidi bel Abbass, a Muslim marabout or noble man who is buried there. The city is the commercial center of an important area of vineyards, market gardens, orchards, and grain fields. It was formerly surrounded by a wall with four gates, and today is home to a university. Sidi Bel Abbès is 75 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea.
Chaabi is a traditional music of Algiers (Algeria), formalized by El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka.
Thénia (الثنية), sometimes written as Thenia, with around 40,000 inhabitants, is the chief town in the daïra of the same name, in the wilaya of Boumerdès, in northern Algeria. Historically, the name is a contraction of "Theniet Beni Aicha", the Arabic translation of the Kabyle Berber toponym Tizi n At Ɛica. The steep-sided pass, which is only about 800 metres (2,600 ft) wide at its narrowest point, is sometimes taken to mark the transition between Mitidja and Grande Kabylie.
Raïna Raï, is an Algerian raï band from Sidi Bel Abbès. It formed in 1980 in Paris and continues to this day.
The founding members are Tarik Naïmi Chikhi, Kaddour Bouchentouf, Lotfi Attar and Hachemi Djellouli.
Cheikh El Hasnaoui his real name is Mohamed Khelouat was a Berber singer born in Taâzibt, a small town in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou in Algeria.
The Algerian mandole is a steel-string fretted instrument resembling an elongated mandolin, widely used in Algerian music such as Chaabi, Kabyle music and Nuubaat.
Houria Aïchi is an Algerian Berber singer of chaoui music. Aïchi sings songs that she learnt in her childhood, accompanied by bendir.
Fatima Zohra Badji (1942–2014) better known by her stage name of Noura was an Algerian singer. She was the first North African and Algerian to attain a gold record and was the first Algerian to appear on the front page of Paris Match. She received citations and awards from Tunisia, Libya and the Ministry of Culture of Algeria in recognition of her cultural contributions.
Mohamed Rouane is an Algerian musician and recording artist, well known in his own country for his performances of flamenco and "Casbah-style jazz" and especially for his use of the mondol.