Rachid Baba Ahmed ( ar, رشيد بابا أحمد; 20 August 1946 – 15 February 1995) was an Algerian record producer, composer, and singer involved in the regional

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

known as raï. He was credited with the international popularization of the genre in 1976, through the new pop raï, with a delicate and sophisticated blend of electronic instrumentation. He was also credited with the development of pop raï during the 1970s and 1980s,¹ the performers of which are called ''cheb'' or ''chaba''.

Career

Rachid Baba produced an album titled ''Rai Rebels'', among many other acclaimed titles released in the United States and elsewhere. He was quoted as saying, with regards to censoring the lyrics to the songs on the albums in order to make them appropriate for observant Islamic audiences, "In the beginning, I let cheb sing the words as he wanted. Now I pay attention. When he sings a vulgarity, I say stop. If he doesn’t obey, I cut it during the mixing." Baba helped many young and upcoming artists, including

Chaba Fadela Chaba Fadela (born Fadela Zalmat, 5 February 1962) is an Algerian raï musician and actress. Early life Raised in a poor neighborhood in Oran, Algeria and starred in the Algerian film ''Djalti'' at the age of 14. She launched her musical career ...

and

Cheb Sahraoui Cheb Sahraoui (born Mohamed Sahraoui, Tlemcen, Algeria, 1 April 1961) is an Algerian raï musician, the first to tour North America and the first to incorporate electronic synthesizers into his arrangements. Early life As a pianist, he studied m ...

. Ahmed’s modern 24-track studio in Tlemcen produced Algerian pop-raï.House of World Cultures. Chaba Fadela & Cheb Sahraoui. May 16, 2003.

Death

During the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War ( ar, rtl=yes, الْحَرْبُ الْأَهْلِيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, al-Ḥarb al-ʾAhlīyah al-Jazāʾirīyah) was a civil war in Algeria fought between the Algerian government and various I ...

, he was murdered by Islamic fundamentalists on February 15, 1995, outside of his

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

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 ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He had been a long-standing target for the Islamic movements because of his involvement in the production of songs with themes of romance and everyday living.

References

Notes

Amazon.com
1946 births 1995 deaths Algerian electronic musicians Raï musicians Assassinated Algerian people 20th-century Algerian male singers {{Algeria-bio-stub