Rai Sidi Bel Abbes

The Cairo-based label Nashazphone released a compilation of songs by Algerian singer Drissi El-Abbassi, made by him in the period from 1979 to 1989. Drissi was born in the city of Sidi Bel Abbès in northwestern Algeria and became known as the owner of one of the most tender voices of rai. Rai is a musical style that emerged in the Algerian city of Oran in the 1920s, combining the traditions of Arab folk music, songs of Bedouin shepherds, and European popular music brought to Algeria by colonizers. Rai singers are called cheb (شاب) or shabab, which means young, distinguishing them from singers of another popular Algerian style, chaabi. They are called sheikhs (شيخ), meaning elders.

Translation powered by chatGPT