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Rai

Overview Artists Albums

Rai was born in the west Algerian port of Oran, a place where Spanish, French, black American, and Arabic music styles have coexisted and mingled. Rai, which means "opinion," or idiomatically "Oh, yeah!," originated as a folk form among Bedouin shepherds, but as the older rural traditions were becoming irrelevant in modern Algeria, they were adapted and changed by the youth into a new form -- pop rai. With the help of producers Rachid and Fethi Baba Ahmed, young Algerians have added hard rock, funk, reggae, drum machines, and echo chambers to the style.