Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25234
UTION TEXT: CHARLES PUCKETIE OUT OF ALGERIA COMES MUSIC WITH SPICE. SOUL AND THE POWER TO CROSS CULTURAL LINES. Has the revolutionary pop of Algeria's rai music become comfortable, internation- al, even mainstream? Rai star Cheb Mami's soaring vocal on Sting's hit song "Desert Rose" and as the soundtrack for a Jaguar commercial seems to suggest that North Africa's foremost singer is an exotic flavoring that adds oriental zest to soft rock blandness. Cheb Mami has performed at the Grammys, on David Letterman and, the pinnacle of American media, the halftime show at the Super Bowl. For an artist who usually sings in Arabic, it's astounding how far Mami's mournful tenor has reached into the ears of mainstream America on the basis of just one song. But is this rail Rai, an Arabic word meaning "a way of seeing" or "an attitude," comes from western Algeria, near the port of Oran. The music has its distant antecedents in the traditional Andalusian poetry that the Moors brought to the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. The recitation of these texts with rudimentary musical accompaniment was the domain of chikhs, learned men who publicly performed the devotional songs as guidance for living according to Islam. In the privacy of family ceremonies, such as weddings and circumcisions, women sang songs of devotion and humor on sub- jects like wedding nights and the stupidity of men. When the French colonized Algeria in 1830, they broke down the society of nomadic Bedouins, creating a large urban underclass. In the brothels and bars that catered to the occupying soldiers of Oran, some women began publicly performing bawdy material as well as laments about the poverty and des- peration of people on the streets. These women, who called themselves chikhas, melded elements of the conservative chikhs' repertoire with women's songs to create a body of spicy, forbidden songs, somewhat analogous to early American blues. The accompanying musicians began to transfer the traditional sounds, melodic patterns and combinations of rhythms to imported instruments like the accordion, horns, the piano and even the banjo. These underground songs are the grandmothers of modern rai. Authorities have never liked rai: the French saw it as a defiant expression of Algerian revolt during the war for freedom. Later, in 1962, the independent Algerian government felt uncomfortable with the music's earthy and pointed lyrics about sex, unemployment, drinking and other taboo subjects. The young men performing the songs at weddings and on mass-produced cassettes called themselves cheb (kid), to reinforce the notion that they weren't singing the old-fogy songs of the chikhs. With more for- eign music available, the accompanying instrumentation became leaner and more propulsive for illicit dancing, and wah wah guitars were introduced, followed soon by synthesizers and drum-machines in the early 1980s. Soon the best rai singers like Cheb Khaled were heading for France with its high-tech studios and large Algerian immigrant population. Khaled, working with American producer Don Was, scored the first international crossover hit with his dance-floor-friendly "Didi" (1992) which introduced the world to the urgent, impassioned vocal style of rai. Now the music is evolving and expanding outside the Maghreb as artists seek a larger and more international audience. But in its war-torn birthplace, the music is still per- ceived as dangerous: In 1994, a rising star, Cheb Hasni was gunned down by fundamentalist militants who decried the hedonistic lyrics of his songs. Rachid Baba Ahmed, a famous rai producer, was similarly killed a year later. 70 [II 1> CHEB MAMI Dellali (Mondo Melodia, 2001) Cheb Mami is currently the most recognized rai star and deservedly so: his voice is heart-rendingly beautiful with a clear tone and he is a master of the heavily ornamented Arab vocal style with its quavering, roller coaster melodies. On his latest CD, Deliali (Dearest One), Mami enlisted two producers, former Chic member Nile Rodgers (who's worked with David Bowie and Peter Gabriel) and British Asian Underground hipster Nitin Sawhney. It may be a case of too many cooks, though, as the album moves from reggae beats to gypsy violin, and on to a faux classical quartet followed by a techno number with a gospel-style choir. With so many different musical ideas at work here, Mami's exceptional voice occasionally gets lost in the mix. For Mami fans, Deliali is worth picking up because there are enough tracks where the arrangements allow his vocals to shine (especially the fla- menco-tinged "Tzazae" and the joyous "Machi Chaba"). But for the new listener, his last album Meli Meli is a better example of why Mami is one of the most popular rai performers today.