In the 1930s no respectable Algerian woman dared to make music about sexual pleasure, alcohol consumption, poverty, oppression. Cheikha Rimitti sang anyway. The artist, whose pioneering recordings ...

Cheikha Rimitti helped put raï music on the map–a cool, groovy style that originated in the Algerian port city of Oran in the 1920s, a mix of Bedouin folk music, French, Spanish, African and Arabic ...

The recent death of French Algerian superstar Rachid Taha brought to mind the musical genre called raï, so I decided to feature it this week by highlighting a few raï artists.… It’s not hard to ...

In the 1980s, Algeria experienced a tumultuous social context which reached its peak during the riots of October 88. This wave of protest, with youth as its figurehead, echoed the texts of raï singers ...

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1135764/135764" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> NPR's ...

An old-school rock star headlined SummerStage in Central Park on Saturday afternoon. Grinning and unshaven, he strutted around the stage, sang in a knowing growl and cued his band for extended, ...

For the Algerian band Democratoz, getting audience members up and dancing isn’t the only goal. They want a revolution. Known for their eclectic mix of Algerian rai, rock and reggae, the seven members ...