Chaabi is a

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

(

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), formalized by

El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka ( ar, الحاج محمد العنقة}), (May 20, 1907 in Algiers – November 23, 1978 in Algiers) also known as Hadj Muhammed Al Anka, El-Hadj M'Hamed El Anka (and various other combinations), was considered a Grand Mast ...

. Originally from the

Casbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

, the music known as chaabi belongs to a tradition of recent origin. It emerged during the 1930s, and has lost none of its power of attraction up to the present time. Inspired by vocal traditions of

Andalusi music Andalusi classical music ( ar, طرب أندلسي, ṭarab ʾandalusī; es, música andalusí), also called Andalusi music or Arab-Andalusian music, is a genre of music originally developed in al-Andalus by the Muslim population of the region a ...

, such as muwashshah, using its modes and rhythm. ''Chaabi'' means 'of the people', and it's very definitely the people's music, even in a country where Raï rules. A typical song features mournful, Arabic/

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

vocals, set against an orchestral backdrop of a dozen musicians, with violins and mandolins swelling and falling to a piano melody and the clap of percussion beats. Chaabi is part of a deeply conservative tradition and its lyrics often carrying a strong moral message. At first Chaabi remained a scandalous genre, thriving behind closed doors or in specific locations called "Mahchachat" (cannabis dens), where the admirer of this music would go to drink coffee, tea or smoke. By the late 1950s, however, it had become the people's music, played at weddings and religious festivals. Its main exponents included

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

based singer ,

, the father of Chaabi, and

Dahmane El Harrachi Dahmane El Harrachi (real name Abderrahmane Amrani), (July 7, 1926 – August 31, 1980), was an Algerian Chaâbi singer of Chaoui origin. His song Ya Rayah made him the best exported and most translated Chaabi artist. He moved to France in ...

, composer of the classic tale of emigration

Ya Rayah "Ya Rayah" ( ar, يا رايح, Yâ râyiḥ, lit=you, the one leaving) is an Algerian chaâbi song written and performed in 1973 by Dahmane El Harrachi (Amrani Abderrahmane). Up until the past 15 years this song was known to be Dahman El Harrac ...

. In 2011, Safinez Bousbia directed a documentary on chaabi music. It took over seven years to make, facilitate and track the reunion of the Jewish and Muslim members of a chaabi group from colonial Algiers known as

El Gusto ''El Gusto'' is a Franco-Irish-Algerian documentary film realised and produced by Safinez Bousbia, released on January 11, 2012 in France. Synopsis ''El Gusto'' chronicles the story of an orchestra of Jewish and Muslim Chaabi musicians torn apa ...

The best known chaabi singers

The best known chaabi singers are as follows:
- Hadj Mrizek
- Amer Ezzahi
-

El Hachemi Guerouabi El-Hadj El Hachmi Guerouabi (Arabic: الهاشمي القروابي; January 6, 1938 in Boudouaou, Algeria – July 17, 2006 in Zeralda, Algeria) was an Algerian singer and composer of Chaâbi and one of the Grand Masters of the Algiers-based ...

- Boudjemaa el Ankis
-

Kamel Messaoudi Kamel Messaoudi ( ar, كمال مسعودي), (30 January 1961; Bouzaréah, Algeria – 10 December 1998; Algiers) was an Algerian Chaabi music performer, highly regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Algeria history. Biography He was ...

Abdelkader Chaou Abdelkader Chaou (born November 10, 1941, in the Casbah of Algiers) is an Algerian musician who is well known in Algeria for his own style of chaabi music, both as a singer and a mondol virtuoso. He is considered important enough as a musician th ...

- Dahman El Harachi

Features of Chaabi

What distinguishes this Algerian Chaabi are the sounds and poems, the sound represents a sad memory of times gone by or a heart-warming romantic emotion or sessions with friends or memories, which gives a beautiful background to the country of

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, and the words create wonderful pictures, today there are hundreds of music singers who are inspired by these Beautiful music that can be heard all over the world, and it is music that describes the reality of life and even includes tales and stories such as the stories of the prophet Mohamed and the religiouses.

References

External links

Ournia.com''Dead Reckoning'' (2011) movie about this music
{{Authority control 20th-century music genres 21st-century music genres Algerian styles of music Berber music