Rachid Baba Ahmed

Algérie, Mémoires du Raï

What musical genre can claim to have gone, in the space of fifty years, from a hidden cabaret in Oran to Super Bowl halftime? Born in Algeria at the end of the Second World War, the raï wave spread from the cabarets of western Algeria to the cassette shops of Barbès in Paris, before sweeping the world at the end of the 1980s. its hybridization, the intoxicating music traveled from Algerian and French weddings to the biggest international stages, before suddenly disappearing from the radar at the dawn of the new millennium. Icons that have disappeared, including Cheikha Remitti and Prince Hasni, to young heirs, passing by the star Khaled, the collector Hadj Sameer trace the tumultuous course of this musical genre, between clandestinity, planetary glory and resistance.

"Bled Music" is an Algerian musical television program broadcast on ENTV between 1991 and 1992. directed by Aziz Smati and presented by Kamel Dynamite, Farid Rockeur and Samia Benkherroubi. The show, with its irreverent tone, was very popular and had a significant impact on the Algerian music scene, allowing the emergence of many artists including Chaba Fadela, Cheb Sahraoui, Cheb Anouar and Mohamed Lamine. A ranking of music videos by popularity and relied on fans sending their votes by mail. At the end of the 1980s, unrest broke out in Algeria which led the country into a Black Decade. At this time, fundamentalist groups attempted to ban music and most other forms of artistic expression. The show continued to air despite death threats, but on February 14, 1994, Aziz Smati was shot in both legs by a young extremist, which ultimately led to the end of the show .