As a window on the world wide open is the coastal city, while other cities are suffocated within countries, limited from all sides in other cities, open to the spaciousness of the sea wide, and embrace the heart of all the winds of different cultures. At that time, it functions as a melting pot of different cultures, traditions and arts, and then comes to us a new cultural tradition that is a mixture of all of this.
So was the Egyptian Alexandria, where the East Pharaonic winds met in the Greek West to give us the Hellenistic culture. So was New Orleans, where the melodies of Europe were intertwined with the rhythms of Africa, and together they were jazz, and so were Oran, where the musical traditions of Spain, France, the Arabs and the Africans melted together. A new baby is rai
First generation: in the heart of Oran
The story of the Rai began in the city of Oran in 1920, at the time Algeria was one of the colonies of France, which had been occupied for almost 100 years, in which Algeria lived many conflicts in the desire to achieve independence achieved only by another forty years, and was from the depths of that occupied society - Forced upon him by drowning in poverty, and under oppression - that the emergence of opinion.
The Rai songs came as a true reflection of their society, depicting the suffering of their people under the burden of colonialism, which robbed them of their lands and freedoms and imposed them for a century. The word "rai" means "opinion" or "vision". Perhaps that word came to indicate that these songs express the opinion of members of the people about what they are going through.
In its beginnings, rai's music was based mainly on salty poetry, strong rhythm and traditional tunes, and was often played on the flute machine, and its male singers were known by " sheikh" means the old man and female by "sheikha" means the old woman. As for the sheikhas, their situation was not very different from that of the women of that age, from the many attempts of the society to narrow them, to consider them barren from the rules of literature and modesty. Despite this, they came out with more than a great talent, which was then appreciated by the whole world, and perhaps the most prominent of the singing of Rai women Sheikha Remiti, called the "grandmother of Rai."
Sheikha Remiti
Saadia Bdiaf - later called "Sheikha Remiti" - was known for her boisterous voice and her hardened hands with henna. Although her name is Saadia, which means happiness, she lived a miserable life of poverty, orphanhood and remarriage. Saadia was born in May 1923 and began to sing after the age of fifteen, and did not stop until her death at the age of eighty-three
Like Rai's own music, the history of Sheikha Remiti was full of ban and ban. Her richness for erotic words and daring subjects put Sheikha Remiti in the position of enmity with power, the Algerian government-Like the rest of the Arab governments- placed herself as guardian of the people and prevented her from singing in Algeria from 1962 until her death. But despite this, the ban did not prevent Rimiti from gaining a reputation that made her last concert in France just two days before her death attended by nearly 4,000 people.
To the world
On the long journey from the heart of Oran to the global horizons, the music of Rai passed through many stages in which the stages of its relationship with the Algerian society and its political and religious authorities varied. It moved from the prohibition, the prohibition and the persecution of its artists - sometimes even to murder - to honor, celebrate and refer to it as a symbol of Algerian culture. , As well as the melodies of traditional folk music and instruments in Oran to blend with modern Western music such as jazz and hip hop.
With the fall of the French occupation in 1962 and "the National Liberation Front"taking over the rule of Algeria opened the eyes of new generations of young people that the repression does not necessarily come from abroad, and the generation grew up and chose the music to express his anger and concerns, and distinguish from the previous generation dropped the titles of "Sheikh" "Sheikha" and took instead the titles of "chab" means"young" and "chaba" also means young but for women.
Of course, the authorities - who do not listen to their ears except to condone hypocrisy - did not live up to the music of Rai, and tried by all means to ban it, and prevented it from being broadcast on television channels. Al Rai did not have access to cassette tapes, which were able to spread across it and reach its listeners along the length and breadth of Algeria. Al-Rai's passion for music has reached a high degree with which it has only the authority to surrender and implicitly recognize Al Rai music by setting up its first official festival in Oran in 1985.
Whether to escape frome the political power before the war or from the extremist religious authority after it, many of the rai singers did not find in front of them except to emigrate in order to preserve their personal safety and carried their art with them. Instead of the death of Rai for his separation from his original soil in Algeria, this immigrant generation revived it Abroad, and delivering his melodies to the whole world.
Perhaps the most famous singer of that generation is "Cheb Khaled", which later became known as "King of Rai". Cheb Khaled emigrated to France in 1989, where he achieved some of his songs a resounding success that played a major role in Europe's definition of rai. Of these songs, Didi is the most famous and at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Khaled sang it.
Cheb Mami also earned a reputation for collaborating with British singer Sting in the famous song "Desert Rose". In 1999, Khaled, Fadel and Rachid Taha participated in one of the most famous rai concerts in Paris, attended by some 14,000 people. Later, the concert recordings were released with a musical album called "1,2,3 Soliels". The song "Abdelkader", which the three participated in singing the most famous songs of the concert. It is worth mentioning that the song "Abdul Qadir" is a traditional song that the author of the faithful advocates of God to help him, and the trio presented with contemporary instruments and rapid rhythm was very impressed.
Cheb Hasni:
Dean of the romantic song in Rai, or as he is called the emotional king of Rai, his songs were characterized by strong music renewed in the rhythms of traditional Rai more to the emotional
The songs of "Cheb Hasni" were joined together by a melody, rhythm and voice, sung by his music, the different connoisseurs of rai in various countries. He was considered the legend of the RAI without exception. He was assassinated in September 1994 in Oran during "the black decade".
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