Although not strictly a rai artist, Rachid Taha is another Algerian singer with a strong presence in the world music record bins. A different pop style with an equally strong, easy appeal to westerners comes from Sudan and that Nubian heartland that reaches north into Egypt. Sudanese pop incorporates a myriad of styles from the Horn of Africa, from the lilting vocals of Swahili wedding music to the urgent work songs of Afar salt diggers, and it relies more on simple tribal dance rhythms than on the elaborate orchestrations of rai. Multiple handclap and drumbeats underpin solo melodies that are often part of an earthy call and response in the chorus. The result is a felicitous middle ground between the traditional and the contemporary.
Singers enunciate their words in unhurried cadences.
Lyrics are celebratory, nostalgic, and humorous. Diab also works outside his tradition, having recorded with Khaled, a Spanish flamenco group, and Greek singer Angela Dimitriu. My hunch is he will be the first Arab singer to make it big here. Louis Werner is a film maker who lives in New York. Click here to visit our music pages.