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Article: Beyond Rai: North African protest music and poetry.
- Article from:
- World Literature Today
- Article date:
- July 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 University of Oklahoma. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Oh life! You backstabber
You broke my arms
You brought down rulers
And put shepherds up
--Sidi Abderrah El-mejdoub,
Diwan, 16th century
RAI has undoubtedly been the best-known form of North African music since its explosion onto the world music scene when such artists as Khaled and Mami ascended pop charts in France and elsewhere.' The music is thoroughly modern in nearly every sense of the word, but its origins are in much more traditional forms of Maghrebi culture. The beginnings of rai can be traced to the area between the cities of Oran in western Algeria and Oujda in eastern Morocco. Originally inspired by Bedouin melodies and poetry, it was ...