Musical Dissent in Muslim Algeria

Hundreds and thousands of young men and women packed the streets while their favorite musicians met to discuss the direction their music was taking. Together, the artists had discussed music's role in society and it was unanimously concluded that "song possessed enormous strength to communicate with the people and break down barriers, such as illiteracy."[1] These musicians, playing at the Socialist Youth Festival in Cuba in 1998, had captured the essence of why music is considered so dangerous in many places around the globe. Music, with its ability to attach catchy tunes to sometimes controversial lyrics, represents ordinary peoples' "values, way of life, struggles and is ultimately intended for their popular consumption."[2] Desperate to stop the flow of such disruptive music into their countries, many Latin American countries restricted the importation of foreign phonographs and banned certain record imports.[3] The problem of illicit importation of banned music has been complicated by the advent of the audiocassette. With a more rugged construction, convenient duplication, and easy concealment, many governments felt the threat posed by banned music had increased dramatically.[4]

Elsewhere in the world, a man moans into a microphone and sings of the desperation and despair that he experiences on a daily basis. The patrons of the dark, smoky nightclub drown their sorrows and listen with approval to the musician whose simple, melancholy lyrics resonate within the depths of their souls. The raspy voice, sultry innuendo, and the overarching fatalism of the songs are the hallmark of the Blues - a musical form popularized by African-American musicians in the South of the United States in the early half of the twentieth century, particularly during the Great Depression. The Blues was initially shunned by mainstream American consumers as being too ethnic or too sexually charged or even completely illiterate. It wasn't until the second half of the twentieth century, when such artists as Britain's Led Zepplin and The Who, as well as America's own Elvis, began to borrow heavily from the Blues that this musical art form was truly mainstreamed and honored despite, or perhaps because of, its content.[5]

Another city, another concert; fans by the thousands pack a crowded venue and scream in adulation as their favorite artists take the stage. Soon, the hypnotic mixture of synthesized, eastern-sounding music and catchy lyrics fill the auditorium as the fans clap in time. Cheb Mami, Cheb Khaled and Rachid Taha have taken to the stage to sing the latest and most popular of their songs to an audience mostly ignorant of the meaning of the words they sing. This concert, called "1 2 3 Soleil", was held not in Tangiers, Oran or any other Algerian town from which Ra'i hails, but in the French city of Paris.

Since the French conquest of 1847, Algeria had been a colony of France in its role as a world power. Though the French controlled most of the country, there were still pockets of resistance, mainly in Kabylian regions of southern Algeria.[6] After WWI, Muslim groups were formed to call for European and Algerian equality in Algeria, and later for the independence of Algeria. After WWII, there were spontaneous nationalist movements springing up all over Algeria, to which the French responded with intense crackdowns and suppression. Soon, one of the guerilla groups that called themselves the Algerian National Liberation Front began to carry out attacks upon French-controlled police stations and other government-controlled posts. The violence between the two sides escalated and within seven years of intense conflict over 100,000 Muslim men, both working for and against the French, as well as over 10,000 French soldiers, and an unaccounted-for amount of Algerian and European civilians had died.[7] As early as 1960, French President DeGaulle realized that France would eventually need to grant at least some form of autonomy to Algeria. Despite the protests of many immigrants and the French-controlled army, an agreement was reached in March of 1962 that gave complete autonomy to the Algerian National Liberation Front and their Prime Minister Ben Yusef Ben Khedda.[8] By July 1^st of 1962, Algerians had overwhelmingly voted for independence from France and by the 3^rd of July, France recognized the sovereignty of Algeria.

Algerian authorities today, desperate to hold onto the reins of power in their country, are facing the same problem that Latin American governments and American society once faced. The music they combat is an indigenous form of music called "Ra'i" that shares many characteristics with the Blues, including the potential to challenge a conservative status quo with a more liberal and modern way of thinking. The literal definition of Ra'i is "opinion" in Arabic and in this case, they are opinions that are shared by much of the youth of Algeria. While Ra'i may only be an opinion for some, for some popular artists it also means imprisonment, and sometimes death.[9]

Since national elections in Algeria were nullified by the military in 1992, assassination and intimidation have plagued the "little devils", as Ra'i musicians are referred to by conservative Islamists in Algeria, who dare to pollute the minds of impressionable young Algerians with western-sounding music full of sex, alcohol and irreverence for authority.[10] With their Western-influenced music full of womanizing, alcohol and secularism, Ra'i performers and producers have had to flee their homeland in the face of threats, abductions, attacks, and executions from both the government and the religious rebels attempting to overthrow the government.[11] Conservative elements within Algerian society often attack Ra'i for its western influence and flavor. The military government of Algeria is likewise eager to silence Ra'i, not just because they are "Westernized", but because the music's lyrics embarrasses and angers those in power by speaking of chronic unemployment, lack of housing, the deprivation of basic utilities and living in an unjust and war-torn society. When there are many forms of indigenous music to be found in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, each influenced to some degree by western musical styles and yet tolerated, what makes Ra'i so dangerous that it must be silenced so violently? Rock the Gasbah

One theory is that Ra'i has become far too Western-sounding, leading to the abandonment of traditional instruments in favor of electric guitars and synthesizers and thus betraying its Algerian roots as well as traditional Middle Eastern concepts of musical forms.[12] Another theory postulates that Ra'i crosses too many boundaries that are ingrained in the Islamic tradition: ideals about the appropriate relationship between a man and a woman and the taboos surrounding sexual intercourse and alcohol.[13] Or, it could be as simple as the insubordinate spirit ascribed to Ra'i, both in the songs that are a part of the art form and in the way it is distributed throughout the country, both of which reach deeply into the youth culture of Algeria.[14] In this essay, I will test these hypotheses by examining each theory in turn, and present arguments that place each aspect in perspective in order to compose a cohesive whole that will explain why so many Ra'i artists are "Leaving and Fleeing."[15]

Ra'i first surfaced in the Algerian town of Oran in the 1920's, a time when Algeria was under French colonial rule. It was sung by women in order to entice men, both European and Middle Eastern, into bars, clubs and brothels. An end-blown flute called a "gaspah" and a single headed ceramic drum called a "guellal" accompanied the more popular singers' raspy, sultry voices.[16] The songs themselves intermixed Sufi musical traditions, with its emphasis on hypnotic repetition, Berber percussion styles, and Saharan instrumental simplicity, with lyrics about sexual desire, powerlessness and debauchery. The singers were typically women who conferred upon themselves the title of "Sheikah", which means "wise woman" in Arabic, and were very popular with both Arabic and French men. These "wise" Ra'i singers also performed at private, same-sex parties for generous patrons. Her words were often directed at the guest of honor, ascribing to him sexual prowess through incorporation of his name into racy lyrics:

When he embraces me, he pricks me like a snake[17]

In the 1960's, a new generation of Ra'i singers, building upon the musical foundations set by their predecessors, began to emerge onto the musical scene. These young men styled themselves "Cheb", which means "youth" in Arabic, in order to distinguish themselves from earlier generations of Ra'i singers. They used Ra'i to sing about fatalism, sex, alcohol, despair and the other issues they faced in their daily life.[18] Still popular at bars, brothels and during all-male pre-wedding parties, by the 1970's Ra'i began to emerge onto the streets of Algeria, and began to blend elements of Reggae, Funk, Spanish and Egyptian musical styles.[19] Slowly but surely, the traditional gaspah and guellal fell out of fashion as the young musicians began to experiment with the electric guitar, early synthesizers and western harmonic progressions.[20] The government at the time, The Algerian National Liberation Front, wanted to present to the world an exclusively Arabic identity in order to participate in the since-abandoned concept of Pan-Arabism and so banned the music, refusing to play it on state-run radio stations, and breaking up Ra'i concerts.

Around the same time, another popular form of traditional music emerged from the area of North Africa referred to as the Maghreb. This music, called Jajouka, hails from Algeria's western neighbor Morocco. Like Ra'i, this music was also influenced by Berber and Sufi musical traditions and centers around the use of traditional, simple instruments. Unlike Ra'i, Jajouka retained the use of its traditional instruments like the lute-like "gimbri", the flute-like "lira" and the double-headed "tarija" drum. Jajouka is alleged to be thousands of years old, brought to the shores of what would later be known as Morocco by the Greek god Pan who taught the music style to the first "master of Jajouka", a man named Attar. Later, Sufi mystics adopted Jajouka and incorporated it into their ceremonies. Since then, Jajouka has remained essentially the same and though Jajouka is used and produced by western musicians, the core instruments used are the same they have been for thousands of years. Bachir Attar, the "master" of Jajouka, has said that tradition is important to the proper playing of Jajouka and so he strives to maintain the purity of the art form. He is constantly traveling all over the world to western metropolises like Paris, London and New York to work with musicians such as Debbie Harry and the Rolling Stone's late bassist Brian Jones, all in order to ensure Jajouka's integrity. Nonetheless, though the instruments themselves are traditional, the arrangements and techno-sampling heard in dance clubs all over the world certainly are not. Yet despite this apparent collusion between Jajouka and western-style music, there is no visible backlash against Jajouka. In fact, Jajouka is closely tied with Sufi mysticism - "Attar" is a Sufi watchword meaning "Perfume Maker", and the proper playing of Jajouka is claimed to be able to cure madness - and its players are exempted from many restrictions in Morocco by order of the king.[21]

The difference may lie in the fact that, unlike Jajouka, Ra'i adopted western instrumentation while completely abandoning its traditional instruments. Where western musicians who can sample and distort the original music to fit their creative bent may sample Jajouka, Ra'i, on the other hand, is being sampled and distorted by the performers themselves. Added to this mix is Ra'i's abandonment of traditional Middle Eastern concepts of music. According to the New Grove Dictionary Online, there is a division between styles of Middle Eastern music that is solely instrumental and music that incorporates lyrics. The first is known as "musiqi" while the other is known as "musiqa".[22] Early Islamic traditions of music treat it as something that is heard or experienced, "samaa" in Arabic, and that could be useful in Sufi mystical practices where repetitive musical loops are used to reach a state of closeness with God. Despite this mystical use of music, a debate arose when conflicting traditions, or "hadith", concerning the Prophet Muhammad's reaction to music came into debate. Some traditions hold that the Prophet participated in music playing and festivals, while others state that the Prophet condemns such frivolity.[23] Though many Muslim purists believe that Sufi practices are, at best, heretical, the Sufis are often spared religious backlash by virtue of their popular appeal. Though this debate still rages in some portions of the Muslim world, by and large a compromise seems to have been reached, establishing the tradition that listening to music that is objectionable is acceptable if the musicians are foreigners or non-Muslims.[24] The playing of questionable music by a Muslim, however, would be considered totally unacceptable.

Here then is the heart of the matter regarding the use of traditional instruments versus the use of western, and to some listeners decadent, instruments in the creation of music. Jajouka is left alone because its practitioners adhere to traditional instruments in traditional arrangements. Ra'i, on the other hand, is susceptible to a religious critique because its practitioners have abandoned their traditional musical instruments in favor of more modern ones. This abandonment of Arabic instruments and harmonic progressions is, in some circles, seen as an abandonment of Arabic culture, values and tradition. Simple as that conclusion may be, it is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the controversy surrounding Ra'i. Were Ra'i merely an instrumental form of music, it might have been able to escape the notice of many would-be purists. The venue and content of Ra'i are also subject for controversy.

The End of Innocence

When Algeria obtained its independence from France in 1962, the Algerian National Liberation Front was eager to promote its Arab identity and thus distance themselves from their French-dominated past as a colony. The Algerian government began to impose conservative reforms based upon traditional Islamic customs about dress, education and music in an effort to distance the new Algeria from the old, corrupt, French-occupied Algeria. When Ra'i began to emerge from its smoky taverns into the popular culture of Algerian youth, it became a target for censorship. Throughout the 60's and 70's, Ra'i musicians and producers increased their audience through the use of increasingly risqué lyrics that began to appeal to both men and women. Ra'i, with its sensual lyrics and irreverent spirit, soon began to catch on with the youth of Algeria who chafed under the new societal restrictions imposed upon them. To them, it seemed that Ra'i represented modernity, progress, and change for the better. Soon, women began to appear in dance clubs unsupervised and often singing along to lyrics by Cheba Zahouania and Cheba Fadela in which women were the sexual aggressors and initiators of liaisons.[25] With mixed dancing on the rise and young women seeking out sexual partners outside of marriage, the Algerian government felt that it needed to put an end to Ra'i in order to preserve its Arab identity. Traditionally, Middle Eastern concepts of music hold that, ideally, there should be a division of audiences with men performing for men and women performing for women.[26] If the audience was mixed however, then the standards of decency were supposed to be much more rigid, with the music usually being restricted to instrumentals. Ra'i's use of foreign instrumentation and broad appeal flouted this traditional view of music in the worst possible ways, turning the rules of social conduct upside down. To complicate matters even further, it was alleged that Ra'i music stirred up women's sexuality, and allegedly promoted homosexual behavior, encouraged trans-gendered sexuality, and other forms of hedonism.[27] The Algerian secret police began by arresting women caught in nightclubs in the late 1970's to early 1980's. Then, when the parties went "underground", the authorities banned Ra'i from the airwaves.[28] The Algerian National Liberation Front even took pains to have opinion articles printed in state-run newspapers denouncing Ra'i as "illiterate" and lacking "artistic merit", yet all these efforts availed them naught.[29] Being outlawed only made Ra'i, as well as its performers, more popular with Algerian youths who soon came to be known as "the Ra'i generation". The more racy the lyrics, the more cassettes were sold, which in turn fueled a search for increasingly controversial content, including lyrics about alcohol abuse and premarital sex.[30]

Most societies have certain standards regarding the chastity of their women and the proper place and use for sexual intercourse. During the nationalist movement for Indian independence from British rule, for example, Indian women were often referred to as the vessel that embodied the purity of the Hindu religion and the moral strength of India in general and therefore, Hindu nationalists argued, their morals must never come into question.[31] Similarly in some parts of Tsarist Russia's rural countryside, if it were discovered that a Russian girl was not a virgin on her wedding night, the girl would be beaten by her in-laws and forced to return to her family in disgrace.[32] Middle Eastern, and particularly Muslim, societies are no less conservative regarding a young woman's moral purity. It is expected that young people will not engage in premarital sex and that they will also abstain from other, polluting influences such as certain meats and alcohol, collectively referred to as "haram", or "forbidden" in Arabic. The ANLF, with its desire to be more Arab than other Arab countries, saw Ra'i as the main cause for the rise in casual sex and public intoxication.[33]

Ra'i, for its part, was capitalizing on its taboo image by offering songs with titles like Cheb Hasni's "we made love in a broken-down shack". And it was not only men who peppered their lyrics with controversial lyrics, Cheba Fadela sang "I want to sleep with him, I want him to open up his shirt" while Cheba Zahouania sang "call Malik so he'll bring the beer."[34] Fadela and Zahouania were following in the footsteps of their predecessor Cheika Rimitti who once sang:

Oh my love, to gaze upon you is a sin,

it's you who makes me break my fast.

Oh lover, to gaze upon you is a sin

it's you who makes me 'eat' during Ramadan[35]

But unlike Cheika Rimitti who sang in bars and brothels during the French occupation of Algeria, these new Ra'i women were singing to mixed audiences under the very noses of the ANLF. Though the lyrics were clearly intended to inflame the passions of young and old alike, many of the artists were not just being controversial for the sake of being controversial. Instead, as Ra'i artist Cheb Khaled, now known only as Khaled, once put it, "young people want to progress...we (Ra'i artists) break down taboos" and to flout Arab rules about social restraint and hypocrisy.[36] It was this flouting of social restraint that so angered the ANLF, whose response to the "little devils" of Ra'i forced many, like Khaled, to flee to France in the early 80's in search of asylum.[37]

In 1985, the ANLF, influenced by a former general-turned-producer, began to lift the restrictions it imposed upon Ra'i, seeking to channel Ra'i's popularity for political gains instead of simply repressing it.[38] Toward that end, the government struck a deal by which certain Ra'i artists could produce their music and it would be aired on the government-run radio stations. In return, the ANLF could approve or alter lyrics as it saw fit, and that is just what it did. For example, the Cheb Hasni song "we made love in a broken-down shack" that caused so much irritation to the government and conservatives was changed to "we did our military service in a broken-down shack" and put into heavy rotation on the radio.[39] Eager not to anger their government patrons, independent Ra'i producers began a program of self-censorship that allowed them to maximize their airplay and thus their sales.[40] Also in 1985, the ANLF held a three-day Ra'i concert in Oran. The concert featured all the Ra'i artists who had complied with the new rules concerning the content of Ra'i and was supervised by the army. At the concert, dancing was forbidden, as was intermixing of the different sexes. This sanitized and remolded image of Ra'i increased its popular appeal as parents and conservatives felt that the new messages were more acceptable. The new heyday of Ra'i music would be short-lived however, as a new climate overtook the Algerian political landscape.

Rebel Yell

In the early 90's, the Islamic Salvation Front began to win local elections and gain political power. They campaigned on a platform of fundamentalist, Islamic government that would crack down on the corrupting influences of western culture. As a result, debates about language, music, and traditional gender roles became more heated and politicized.[41] In 1992, sensing that the ISF would win a landslide victory in the national elections, the Algerian military stepped in and cancelled the elections, disbanded and outlawed the ISF, and imposed martial law.[42] It was the beginning of more than a decade of cultural and civil war in Algeria. Both the military and the guerrilla forces fielded on behalf of the ISF began to target civilians in a variety of violent ways, either in an effort to sway public opinion against the other side, or to silence voices of dissent. According to Amnesty International, the casualties over the past 13 years are difficult to establish because the Algerian government refuses to comply with investigations by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International. Instead, they insist that whole villages - men, women, children, young and old alike - voluntarily join forces with revolutionary groups and in the process abandon their traditional villages completely.[43] Added to this are Amnesty International and western news agency's reports that guerrillas of the Armed Islamic Group, ISF's militant wing, pose as police and army officers to waylay travelers, Algerian and foreign alike.[44] News agencies, such as England's The Guardian,estimate that roughly 1,000 Algerians are murdered each month during periods of intense hostility.[45] A mixture of civil war and elitist clique-ism has lead to widespread corruption throughout the towns and cities of Algeria, with every aspect of life controlled by the generals who took power in 1992 or their henchmen.[46] Through the use of government monopolies on everything from utilities to building construction, only a privileged few are lucky enough to have bought their way into housing that is of sufficient space and solid construction.[47] The corruption is so systemic that most Algerian youth have no place to live, often cramming three or more families into tiny, two bedroom apartments that only intermittently have basic utilities such as running water and electricity while at the same time, fighting for space against rat and other vermin infestations.[48] Many young Algerian men pass their days "holding up the walls" of cities like Algiers and Oran as they wait for visas to France, Spain, Portugal or anywhere else to seek employment.[49] For many Algerians, the 90's and the new century hold nothing but more misery, unemployment and despondency.[50] American blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson's once sang:

sittin' here wondrin', will a match-box hold my clo's

sittin' here wondrin', will a match-box hold my clo's

ain't go so many matches, but I got so far to go[51]

Like their Blues counterparts in America, Ra'i artists also began crafting songs that lamented the desperate and hopeless plight of their generation. "When I sing Ra'i" said Khaled, "I talk about things directly; I drink alcohol; I love a woman; I am suffering. I speak to the point...(I sing) about alcohol, bad luck and women."[52] And soon the lyrics of Khaled and other Ra'i singers reflected that sentiment, producing such songs as "Lillah" in which the singer says:

God protect Algeria, the rose of the soul, dreaming of a day when love perfumes the air

We dream of when people sleep leaving their doors open

We wish the hearts gather no dreariness, no parting and no war smoke under our blue sky[53]

In the immensely popular "Ya Rayah", the singer is speaking to a beloved friend and lamenting that he is "fleeing and leaving" with a sense that he will never return.[54] Such lyrics angered the military government because they felt that Ra'i was stirring popular dissent against the government. Ra'i also angered the Armed Islamic Group, not for its anti-government sentiments, but because Ra'i was once again encouraging women and men to commingle, dance and engage in "un-Islamic" behavior.[55] The government of Algeria began to take steps to curb Ra'i singers, banning them once again from the airwaves, breaking up concerts and menacing the singers. The official climate in Algeria became so hostile that many singers fled to France in order to produce their music. The illegal music then found its way back to Algeria in the form of audiocassettes.

The phenomenon of illicit copies of often-banned music is commonly referred to as the "cassette culture", and is common throughout the world. For example, when Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile, many so-called Nueva Cancion musicians fled to Brazil where they would produce their music in relative security.[56] This music, once recorded onto audiocassette, would then be smuggled into the country where it was duplicated by "bootleggers" and sold for relatively low cost. This bootlegged music was so inexpensive in fact, that it was often cheaper to purchase bootlegged "rebel" music than it was to buy officially sanctioned music. Ironically, by banning Nueva Cancion artists, Pinochet had inadvertently helped spread their message.[57]With Ra'i being forced underground by the government and militant Islamists, much of the music had to be similarly distributed through bootlegged audiocassettes. The easy duplication of audiocassettes, combined with the ease with which they are concealed, helped to spread Ra'i's music and lyrics throughout Algeria. The modernity of its form and the rebelliousness of its spirit soon began appealing to and influencing the Ra'i generation into disobeying authority and challenging puritanical interpretations of Islam.[58] As more and more rebellious Ra'i music surfaced, and the reprisals from the government and the AIG worsened to include abduction and torture, soon most Ra'i singers found it necessary to flee to France for protection and safety.

Some of the Ra'i performers and producers who stayed behind were Cheb Mami and Rachid Baba-Ahmed. Mami had made a name for himself by singing "we made love in a broken-down shack" and later had been one of the first to alter his lyrics to conform to the Algerian National Liberation Front's guidelines. Like Mami, Rachid had begun as a singer of controversial Ra'i in the 1980's, but by the 1990's, he was a producer of "clean" Ra'i. Still, both were seen as a symbol of Ra'i, and so they were both targeted. In September 1994, the AIG stalked Cheb Mami and killed him execution-style by firing one bullet into the base of his neck and two into his chest while his brother looked on helplessly.[59] In February 1995, Rachid was gunned down in the city of Tlemcen, Algeria. The AIG also claimed responsibility for Rachid's slaying in a statement in which they condemned Ra'i's "intellectual frivolity".[60] If the military government and the AIG hoped to suppress Ra'i's rebellious spirit through intimidation, torture and execution, they were sorely disappointed. At the funeral for Cheb Mami, more than 10,000 Algerians, men and women, turned out to participate in the funeral procession.[61] Weeping and lamentation intermixed with Cheb Mami's music played on portable audiocassette players brought by the mourners. The procession continued on into the graveyard, and right up to the edge of the grave. Women threw themselves onto the grave after Mami was buried and in the following months there was a concerted effort by bootleggers to increase the number of cassette tapes with Mami's songs on them in circulation throughout Algeria.[62] Today, almost all of Ra'i's singers and producers live and work in France, Spain and other European countries. Though they thrive in the international market, they long for a return to Algeria.

"What condition is our country in?"

Though the Government and the AIG may have succeeded in chasing the Ra'i artists out of Algeria, they have not solved the problems that face Algerian society that are at the root of Ra'i's influence on the youth. Housing that is unsafe, unhealthy and overcrowded continues to pose a hazard to the well being of average Algerians.[63] For example, over 2,200 people died on May 21^st 2003, when an earthquake destroyed "many relatively new apartment buildings" in Dergana, Algeria.[64] When inspected, experts found that the contractors who built the apartments had omitted certain earthquake-proofing precautions, such as the use of rebar in concrete construction.[65] The contracting company was able to get away with shoddy construction because of the military-backed government's reported widespread corruption.[66] Unemployment in a country newly admitted as an associate member of the European Union, as well as rich in natural resources, still remains chronic.[67]On top of these ills, Algerians face the fact that the AIG impersonates the army and the army often blames many of its own massacres on the AIG. The result is a populace full of uncertainty, unable to feel safe anywhere within their homeland.[68] Or, as Khaled puts it, "What's happening now is crazy. Young people have to wake up and rebel. Now they live like rabbits hopping between two fires, the regime and terrorism."[69]

Over the decades, Ra'i has undergone as many changes as has Algeria itself. From brazen debauchery under French rule to new, western-influenced styles of arrangement and instrumentation in the 1960s, through the sexual revolution of the 1980s and on to political messages in the 1990's. Ra'i has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of Algerian popular culture. It speaks to youth who are disaffected with the way they are forced to eke out an existence and who yearn for a day when there is no more hypocrisy or war. "I am against Islamic fundamentalists" says Khaled "young people want to progress. Young people who want to speak to a girl, or even live with her can't talk about it with their parents. In Ra'i music, people can express themselves...That's why fundamentalists don't like what we're doing."[70] Though Khaled and other Ra'i singers like him are against the constraints imposed upon them by certain Islamic elements, they do not see themselves as heretics or as rebelling against Islam itself. "I am a Muslim man, I love God, but I don't practice and I don't pray," says Khaled, but to some in Algeria, the fact that he doesn't conform to their stringent version of Islam is enough to brand him as a dangerous element that must be silenced.[71]

As Salman Rushdie sees it, the problem lies in the fact that most Muslims "are not profound Koranic analysts. For a vast number of 'believing' Muslim men, 'Islam' stands, in a jumbled, half-examined way, not only for the fear of God - the fear more than the love, one suspects - but also for a cluster of customs, opinions and prejudices."[72] Rushdie goes on to elaborate that much of the attitude of what he terms "Islamist", which in his characterization includes groups such as the Islamic Salvation Front/Armed Islamic Group, that preach a loathing of western culture - music, godlessness, sex - stems from a fear that their own territories, countries and way of life could be taken over by the liberalized and secular way of life that the west stands for.[73] Both Rushdie and Ra'i artists such as Khaled are often attacked for asking one simple question; "What if the ills of our society are not primarily America's fault, that (sic) we are to blame for our own failings?"[74] While Rushdie puts forth his opinions, his literary variant of "Ra'i" in opinion pieces in western papers, Khaled and others like him put forth their opinions in the form of Ra'i concerts. "If you organize round-table discussions, people turn off their television sets. When you hold a concert to denounce terrorism, everyone will listen," says Khaled about the importance of Ra'i concerts.[75] Many Ra'i performers continue to experiment, then, with western instruments and arrangement, to sing about sex, injustice, fatalism, civil war, and alcohol in the hope that their messages will motivate young Algerians to work to overthrow both the oligarchy of the regime and the theocracy of the terrorists. Khaled, Cheb Mami, Rachid Taha and other Ra'i performers are hoping that someday, the people of Algeria will make for their country a time when they can have:

Your (Algeria's) love is in our hearts, regather us back together and

we see at your doors the shining cloud from your dust and

we dress in the best.[76]

Appendix A

Works Consulted Page

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Mami, 'Cheb' "Lillal" Le Prince du Ra'i Sonodisc MCPCD 1300 (1986)

Margasak, P. "'King of Ra'i' Returns To His Roots" New York Times 9JULY00, Pg.II, 24

New Grove Dictionary of Music Online, The ed. L. Macy accessed online at http://www.grovemusic.com

Rushdie, Salman "Yes, This Is About Islam" New York Times 2NOV01 Op-Ed page

Smith, C. "Quake Demolishes Confidence in Algerian Rulers" The New York Times accessed online at http://nytimes.com

Swedenburg, T., J. Gross, D. McMurray "Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Ra'i, Rap and Franco-Maghrebi Identities" Displacement, Diaspora and Geographies of Identity Eds S. Lavie & T. Swedenburg. Durham NC, 1996.

Taha, Rachid "Ya Rayah" Diwan Polygram Records

Tian-Shanskaia, O.S. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia Ed. D. L. Ransel, Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 1993

Tremlett, N. "Death and Dissent as Algeria goes to the polls" The Guardian 31MAY02, Pg. 15

Trueheart, C. "400 Killed in Algerian Massacres" The Washington Post 4JAN1998 Pg. 1

Village Voice, The "Rock Beat" 14SEP99, Pg. 126

Appendix B

Selected Lyrics and Translations for Ra'i Music

"Lillal"

By 'Cheb' Mami

God protect Algeria, the rose of the soul, dreaming of a day when love perfumes the air.

The streets and the stories laugh in the eyes and warms up in your tender heart, and you're protected from envious eyes.

And we dream you'd be a bride and to see at your doors the cloud that sparkles, and from your dust, we dress the best.

God protect it.

We dream when people (can) sleep leaving their doors opened, and what for the guardians, for the secured hearts?

And he who's got security, some wheat is enough.

And he who's got a dream, has accomplished it at the awareness.

We wish the hearts gather no dreariness, no parting, and no war smoke under our blue sky.

And we say surely that martyr's blood won't go in vain, no matter how long we live, we watch, and we argue.

Your love in our hearts, regather us back together.

And we see at your doors the shining cloud from your dust, we dress in the best.

"Ya Rayah"

By Rachid Taha

You who are going, where are you leaving to?

You are leaving and fleeing!

What condition is our country in?

Is that why you are leaving?

How did we lose the time (together)?

You are leaving and never coming back.

You are deepening the distance between us, and the destiny of (our) fate has separated us.

And that is why my heart is so sad.

Why won't you stay so we can build and teach?

May the days last...

Poor is the man who is absent now!

You who are traveling, I call (to) you...

You who are traveling, see what is good for you...

Saying goodbye let me tell you what happened to me.

This is what the heart wanted and the message is read (there is no turning back).

[1] Fairley, Jan "La Nueva Cancion Latinoamericana" Bulletin of Latin American Research Elsevier Science Pub. Co New York, NY. Pg 107

[2] Fairley, Pg. 114

[3] Fairley, Pg. 113

[4] Fairley, Pp. 113-114

[5]The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 28MAY03), http://www.grovemusic.com

[6]Encarta Encyclopedia accessed online at http://encarta.msn.com

[7]Encyclopedia.com accessed online at http://www.encyclopedia.com See also, CIA World factbook accessed online at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

[8]Encyclopedia.com See also, CIA World factbook.

[9] Boustany, Nora "For Ra'i, There's No Oasis in Algeria" The Washington Post, 2JULY95, Pg. G2

[10] Boustany, Nora "For Ra'i..."

[11] Swedenburg, T., J. Gross, D. McMurray "Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Ra'i, Rap and Franco-Maghrebi Identities" Displacement, Diaspora and Geographies of Identity Eds S. Lavie & T. Swedenburg. Durham NC, 1996. Pg. 121

[12] Langolois, T. "Ra'i", The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 23APR03) http://www.grovemusic.com

[13] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123, See also, T. Langolois "Ra'i"

[14] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123

[15] Khaled, 'Cheb' "Ya Rayah" 1, 2, 3 Soleil Virgin records, 1998

[16] Langolois, T. "Ra'i"

[17] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 121

[18] Swedenburg, T., Pg. 124, See also T. Langolois, "Ra'i" and N. Boustany "For Ra'i..."

[19] Swedenburg, T., Pg. 123, see also Margasak, P. "'King of Ra'i' Returns To His Roots" New York Times 9JULY00, Pg.II, 24

[20] Langolois, T. "Ra'i"

[21] Gross, J. "The Masters of Jajouka" J. Gross ed., obtained at Master Musicians of Jajouka online (Visited 18JAN03 http://www. furious.com/perfect/jajouka.html see also The New Grove Music Dictionary Online, Ibid. and also "Rock Beat" The Village Voice 14SEP99, Pg. 126

[22] "Middle Eastern Concepts of Music" The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 23APR03) http://www.grovemusic.com

[23]The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online "Middle Eastern"

[24]The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online "Middle Eastern"

[25] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 124

[26]The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online "Middle East"

[27]The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online "Middle East"

[28] Langolois, T. "Ra'i"

[29] Swedenburg, T. Pg 124

[30] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123, see also N. Boustany "For Ra'i..."

[31] Gupta, Charu Sexuality, Obscenity, Community, Women, Muslims and the Hindu Public in Colonial India Palgrave New York, NY 2002 Pg 99

[32] Tian-Shanskaia, O.S. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia Ed. D. L. Ransel, Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 1993 Pg. 75

[33] Boustany, N. "For Ra'i"

[34] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123

[35] Swedenburg, T. Pg 122

[36] Swedenburg, T. Pg 132, see also N. Boustany "for Ra'i..."

[37] Boustany, N. "For Ra'i"

[38] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 132

[39] Swedenburg, T. Pp. 123, 124

[40] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 124

[41] Langolois, T. "Ra'i"

[42] Trueheart, C. "400 Killed in Algerian Massacres" The Washington Post 4JAN1998 Pg. 1

[43]Amnesty International report "Algeria shirks its responsibilities before the Human Rights Committee" accessed online 13MAY03 http://www.amnesty.org

[44] Trueheart, C. "400 killed" see also, Amnesty International Online

[45] Tremlett, N. "Death and Dissent as Algeria goes to the polls" The Guardian 31MAY02, Pg. 15

[46] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123, see also K. Housego "Housing Crunch Breeds Misery, Anger in Algeria" The Washington Post 6OCT02pg. A24

[47] Housego, K. "Housing Crunch" see also N.Tremlett "Death" and J. Burns "Algerians Protest Election With an Unsurprising Winner" The New York Times 17APR99 Pg. A3

[48] Housego, K. "Housing Crunch"

[49] Boutsany, N. "For Ra'i"

[50] Tremlett, N. "Death and dissent"

[51] Jefferson, 'Blind Lemon' "Blind Lemon" Jefferson Milestone Records 2000

[52] As quoted by T. Swedenburg, in "Arab Noise" Pg 132

[53] 'Cheb' Mami "Lillal" le Prince du Ra'i sonodisc MCPCD 1300

[54] Rachid Taha "Ya Rayah" Diwan Polygram Records

[55] Swedenburg, T. pg. 132

[56] Fairley, Jan Pg. 108

[57] Fairley, J. Pg. 108

[58] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 123, see also N. Boutsany "For Ra'i"

[59] A. Chin, R. Gehr "Deadly Frivolity" The Village Voice 7MAR95, Pg. 74. See also E. Legrand "Producer of Ra'i Music Killed in Algeria" Billboard 4MAR95 Pg. 48 and E. Legrand "Ra'i Singer Hasni A Casualty of Algeria's Violent Culture" Billboard15OCT94Pg. 60 and also N. Boutsany "For Ra'i"

[60] A. Chin, R. Gehr "Deadly Frivolity" See also E. Legrand "Producer of Ra'i" and also N. Boutsany "For Ra'i" and also P. Margasak "The King of Ra'i"

[61] Legrand, E. "Ra'i Singer Hasni" see also N. Boutsany "for Ra'i"

[62] Boutsany, N. "For Ra'i"

[63] Housego, K. "Housing Crunch"

[64] Smith, C. "Quake Demolishes Confidence in Algerian Rulers" The New York Times 30MAY03 obtained online 4JUN03 at http://nytimes.com

[65] Smith, C. "Quake"

[66] Smith, C. "Quake"

[67]CIA World Factbook obtained online 17MAY03 at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/, TheEuropean Union on-line obtained 28MAR03 at http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm see also Tremlett, N "Death and Dissent"

[68]Amnesty International report "Algeria Shirks it Responsibility Before the Human Rights Committee" obtained online 23APR03 at http://www.amnesty.org

[69] Boutsany, N. "For Ra'i"

[70] Swedenburg, T. Pg 134

[71] Swedenburg, T. Pg. 134

[72] Rushdie, Salman "Yes, This Is About Islam" New York Times 2NOV01 Op-Ed page

[73] Rushdie, S. "Yes"

[74] Rushdie, S. "Yes"

[75] Boutsany, N. "For Ra'i"

[76] Cheb Mami "Lillal" Le Prince du Ra'i Sonodisc MCPCD 1300 (1986)