Rachid Taha
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist Rachid Taha (Template:Langx, Template:Lang-Latn, Template:IPA; 18 September 1958 – 12 September 2018) was an Algerian-French singer and activist<ref name=twsD18/><ref name=twsD21/> based in France<ref name=twsD11/> described as "sonically adventurous".<ref name=twsD21/> His music was influenced by many different styles including rock, electronic, punk and raï.
Early life
Taha was born on 18 September 1958<ref name=twsD18/><ref name=twsD12/> in Sig, Mascara Province, Algeria,<ref name=twsD18/> although a second source suggests he was born in the Algerian seacoast city of Oran.<ref name=twsD12>Template:Cite news</ref> This town was the "birthplace of raï" music, and 1958 was a key year in the Algerian struggle for independence against French authority.<ref name=twsD12/> He began listening to Algerian music in the 1960s,<ref name=twsD13/> including street-style music called chaabi.<ref name=twsD13/> Additionally, music from the Maghreb region was part of his upbringing.<ref name=twsD17/>
He moved with his parents to France when he was ten years old, settling in an immigrant community around the French city of Lyon<ref name=twsD18>Template:Cite news</ref> in 1968.<ref>Plastino, pp. 111.</ref> His father was a textile factory worker,<ref name="SFC">Curiel, Jonathan. "Arab rocker Rachid Taha's music fueled by politics, punk attitude and – what else? – romance". San Francisco Chronicle. 27 June 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2013.</ref> with long hours and low pay, such that his life was compared to that of a "modern slave", according to one account.<ref name=twsD13>Template:Cite news</ref> Aged 17, Taha worked during the day at a central heating plant, described as a "menial job",<ref name=twsD12/> and hated this work, but at night worked as a club DJ playing Arabic music, rap, salsa, funk and "anything else that took his fancy."<ref name=twsD13/>
In the late 1970s, Taha founded the nightclub called The Rejects or, in French, Les Refoulés, where he would spin mashups of Arabic pop classics over Led Zeppelin, Bo Diddley and Kraftwerk backbeats.<ref name="casbah">Morgan, Andy. "Can Rachid Taha rock the Casbah?". The Independent. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.</ref>
Career
Raï roots
In the 1980s, Algeria's indigenous pop music known as raï began to achieve international attention.<ref name=twsD12/> Originally raï music was based on "city slickers adapting music from the sticks" and was described as ribald, but it became more of a medium for political protest when young people in the 1960s and 1970s used it to "express their anger and desires."<ref name=twsD12/> Taha suggested that Algerian musical styles and rock are "closely linked".<ref name=twsD23/> Taha was influenced by the Moroccan chaâbi band Nass El Ghiwane which has been described as "Morocco's answer to the Beatles or the Stones."<ref name=twsD44>Template:Cite news</ref>
Carte de Séjour
In 1981, while living in Lyon, Taha met Mohammed and Mokhtar Amini and the three of them, along with Djamel Dif and Eric Vaquer, would soon form a band. In 1982, Taha was the lead vocalist for the Arab-language rock group which they named Carte de Sejour, meaning Green Card or Residence Permit depending on the translation.<ref name=twsD12/> He sang in both French and Arabic, but usually in Arabic. Taha was inspired by the group The Clash:
Taha met members of the group The Clash in Paris:<ref name=twsD21>Template:Cite news</ref>
Taha believed his early recordings helped to inspire The Clash to create the song "Rock the Casbah".<ref name=twsD21/> A New York Times music reporter wrote of Taha's cover version of the Clash's hit song probably influenced by his earlier work:
These were difficult years since record stores often refused to stock their records "because they didn't want Arabs coming into their shops".<ref name=twsD13/> There was little money; the band performed in suburbs of Lyon.<ref name=twsD13/> Taha took a standard patriotic French song entitled "Sweet France" (in French: Douce France) which had originally been recorded by Charles Trenet in the 1940s, kept the lyrics, but sang it with "furious irony" which irritated many French listeners, particularly coming from a "scruffy, bohemian-looking Arabic singer", to the point where Taha's version was banned from French radio.<ref name=twsD13/> The "acerbic" song created a "splash", nevertheless, and won Taha some recognition as a serious artist.<ref name=twsD18/> The group never achieved much commercial success and, as a result, Taha had to work a series of day jobs in a factory, then as a house painter, a dishwasher, and later as an encyclopedia salesman.<ref name=twsD13/> They recorded their first maxi album Carte De Séjour in 1983. In 1984, with the help of British guitarist Steve Hillage, the group achieved a "sharp, driving sound" which played well on the radio, and the LP was entitled Rhoromanie.<ref name=twsD12/> In his songwriting, Taha wrote about living in exile and the cultural strife associated with being an Algerian immigrant in France.<ref name=twsD11/> In 1986, his "sneering punk-rock cover of 'Douce France'" was seen as an "unmistakable protest against the nation's treatment of its immigrant underclass", and caused consternation in French political circles.<ref name=twsD21/> His song "Voilà, Voilà" protested racism.<ref name=twsD21/> Taha had to cope with anti-Arab sentiment and confusion; for example, The New York Times stated in a front-page story that Taha was Egyptian rather than Algerian, but later posted a correction.<ref name=twsD35>Template:Cite news</ref> Later, in 2007, Taha-as-an-immigrant was mentioned in France's National Center of the History of Immigration.<ref name=twsD43>Template:Cite news</ref>
When performing live, Taha wore various outfits, including at one point a leather fedora hat, then later a red cowboy hat.<ref name=twsD11/><ref name=twsD24>Template:Cite news</ref> The band's second and last LP entitled Ramsa (Five) was released in 1986. The band dissolved in 1989.
Solo years
In 1989, Taha moved to Paris to launch his solo career.<ref name=twsD18/><ref name=twsD13/> At one point he was invited to Los Angeles to record with musician Don Was, who had been a producer associated with the Rolling Stones.<ref name=twsD13/> Taha mixed a variety of instruments and styles for his sound. With a drum instrument called a doumbek or darbuka, his new group played Arabic-style beats.<ref name=twsD11/> It appeared at one point that Taha might become an "overnight success", but after the release of the album Barbès, sales were disappointing in the United States, possibly because Americans were not keen on Arabic-sounding music during the time of the first Gulf War.<ref name=twsD13/>
In 1993, Taha again worked with Hillage who helped produce his second solo album, the self-titled Rachid Taha and helped him achieve "the kind of clubland-raï synthesis".<ref name=twsD12/> Hillage worked on nine solo Taha albums from 1993 to 2006, helping Taha return to his "north African roots".<ref name=twsD13/> In 1995, he released the album entitled Olé Olé with Taha looking like an "Aryan androgyne" with dyed blond hair and blue contact lenses, to make a point about anti-Arab bigotry and at the "homophobia of North African culture."<ref name=twsD21/> Valencia features the singing of Kirsty Hawkshaw. In 1997, his song "Ya Rayah" became a hit.<ref name=twsD11/><ref name=twsD23/> He performed in the Canary Islands.<ref name=twsD28>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2001, Taha released Made in Medina, and a music critic commented that he used a "full and varied instrumental palette" along with "a dizzying vocal facility that transcends whatever style he's plugged."<ref name=twsD12/> The album was recorded in Paris, New Orleans, and London with input from the American jam band Galactic.<ref name=twsD12/> Taha saw parallels between African and American music and said "New Orleans is like Algiers ... They were both French colonies at one time, and there's even an area there called Algiers," and he noted that Louisiana Zydeco drum patterns were similar to raï music.<ref name=twsD13/> Made in Medina combined Algerian roots, techno, pop music, and early rock and punk influences with "remarkable consistency" with previous works, according to Hillage.<ref name=twsD13/> There were elements of political protest in his music leading a BBC critic to describe him as a "shit-disturbing artist who risks challenging his own culture as undemocratic."<ref name=twsD17/> A report in The Guardian suggested that Taha had achieved a cult status in pop music.<ref name=twsD13/>
Taha's breakthrough album as a solo artist was his bestseller<ref name=twsD13/> Diwân, featuring remakes of songs from Algerian and Arab traditions. The album featured traditional instruments like the oud but with a "contemporary veneer of programmed percussion and samples added in."<ref name=twsD13/> Taha mixed the oud with strings using a contemporary beat along with guitar work, according to one account.<ref name=twsD23/> Taha's album Tékitoi, produced by Steve Hillage<ref name=twsD17/> and released in 2004, brought acclaim and recognition from other rock musicians. The title track is "street slang" meaning, roughly, Who the Hell Are You? (from the French Tu es qui, toi ? shortened into T'es qui, toi ?) and the music had "echoes of Joe Strummer", according to a review in The Observer.<ref name=twsD22>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2005 Taha performed with Robert Plant, Patti Smith and Brian Eno.<ref name=twsD17/> He covered The Clash song "Rock the Casbah" which he retitled with the Arabic name of "Rock El Casbah". This song appeared in the 2007 film about Clash frontman Joe Strummer entitled The Future Is Unwritten.<ref name=twsD32>Template:Cite news</ref> The song suggested rock music as "banned but unstoppable".<ref name=twsD11/> Taha performed the song along with The Clash musician Mick Jones.<ref name=twsD19/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Guardian selected "Rock El Casbah" as one of the top 50 cover songs.<ref name=twsD31>Template:Cite news</ref>
Taha played in Morocco in 2006.<ref name=twsD37>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, Taha performed in Canada and a reporter from the Montreal Gazette described his performance while wearing a "pewter pimp suit" which was "stunning":<ref name=twsD17/>
In 2008 he performed with the band Dengue Fever.<ref name=twsD34>Template:Cite news</ref> He was described as a ""wild Algerian punk fan" performing among a lineup which read like a "Who's Who of West African music", and was part of "Africa Express", a response to the lack of African musicians at Bob Geldof's Live 8 musical extravaganza.<ref name=twsD33>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2008, Taha was growing increasingly prominent, with greater audiences in places such as Canada, although there were reports that his music had "trouble getting airplay" in France.<ref name=twsD15>Template:Cite web</ref> He performed with Nigerian artists Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti in Lagos at a "Felabration" of the music of their late father Fela Kuti,<ref name=twsD25>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as with Brian Eno in an anti-war concert in London.<ref name=twsD27>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2009, Taha released Bonjour which The Guardian music critic Robin Denselow described as "calmed down" under a new producer, Gaëtan Roussel.<ref name=twsD16>Template:Cite news</ref> Denselow wrote: "The result is an unlikely set in which Taha appears to be deliberately courting a new, wider market by playing down that wild rebel image."<ref name=twsD16/> Denselow felt the music was more "commercial" and "not his most exciting."<ref name=twsD16/> It included a "rousing tribute" on his cover song Rock El Casbah to the late Clash guitarist Joe Strummer. In 2010, Taha played in Toronto, Canada to large audiences.<ref name=twsD14>Template:Cite news</ref> Taha performed with Algerian artist Mehdi Haddab who plays the oud.<ref name=twsD26>Template:Cite news</ref> Taha's song "Habina" was featured in the 2010 film, It's Kind of a Funny Story. Guitarist Carlos Santana recorded his song Migra which went on to sell over 25 million copies.<ref name=twsD13/> In recent years, Taha toured nations including the United States<ref name=twsD18/> and Dubai.
In 2013 Taha released the Zoom album, which was produced by guitarist Justin Adams and featured guests Mick Jones and Brian Eno;.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jones toured with Taha as part of the Zoom project.<ref name=RTz>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=RTb>Template:Cite news</ref> The album included a new recording of "Voilà, Voilà".<ref name="rachidtahaofficial.com">Template:Cite web</ref> Taha also recorded "Now or Never" (words and music by Aaron Schroeder / Wally Gold and previously recorded by Elvis Presley), which features Jeanne Added singing in English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Use of Taha's songs in movies and computer games
The song '"Barra Barra'" from his album Made in Medina was featured in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down as well as in the Games Convention 2008 trailer of the game Far Cry 2. It was also featured in the 2007 film The Hunting Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
His song "Garab" from Made in Medina was used in the movie The Truth About Charlie in 2002, and also in Blood and Chocolate in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
His song "Ya Rayah" from his album Carte Blanche (Rachid Taha album) was used in the movie Something New (film) (2006) [1]
"Ya Rayah" was also allegedly plagiarized by the composer duo Sanjeev–Darshan for their song "Kali Nagin Ke Jaisi" in the soundtrack of the bollywood film Mann (transl. The Psyche).
Reviews
Some critics attribute Taha's unique sound to his use of the mandolute, a mixture of the traditional oud with European fretted instruments. One critic described his arrangements as "no less bombastic" since they mixed North African rhythms and "string orchestra flourishes" with "pummeling big-beat techno, distorted electric guitars, snatches of Bo Diddley, Led Zeppelin and other macho sounds."<ref name=twsD21/>
- Music critic Philip Brasor in Japan Times commented that Taha's album Made in Medina featured Arabic "chanting" which was meant to evoke "the generalized chaos of society" and which features "heart-stopping break beats, flamenco guitar, African choruses, crunching hard rock and the inevitable sappy love song."<ref name=twsD12/>
- Music critic Danny Wiser praised Taha for both his emphasis that he places upon fellow Arabs in North Africa to have pride in both parts of their dual-identity as Arabs as well as Africans, in addition to complimenting him for his infectious personality that shines through on his posthumous album, Je Suis Africain, commenting that "one can almost hear his smile beginning to shine through as he plays; simply through the tone of his voice one can detect that he seems to really enjoy performing his music."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Music critic Robin Denselow felt Taha's Bonjour album was calm – "he switches between Arabic and French in this mix of pleasant ballads and novelty pop, with just the occasional reminder of the old passion and anger."<ref name=twsD16/> Denselow felt his album Tékitoi (2004) was his "most powerful, direct fusion of rock and North African styles to date."<ref name=twsD23>Template:Cite news</ref> Denselow wrote:
- The New York Times wrote about Taha's song "Ah Mon Amour":
- BBC News music critic Martin Vennard described Taha's music as a "seductive mixture of traditional North African, rock, techno and dance music."<ref name=twsD28/>
- Canadian music critic Philly Markowitz named a Taha album one of the best in 2005.<ref name=twsD41>Template:Cite news</ref>
- French music critic Amobe Mevegue described Taha as an "eclectic artist".<ref name=twsD42>Template:Cite news</ref>
Discography and filmography
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Personal life and death
Taha was described as "gregarious" and "quick with a smile." A person who liked to party throughout the night,<ref name=twsD21/> he also had a cosmopolitan group of friends.<ref name=twsD21/> Taha was quoted as saying "I've never wanted to just stay in my own neighborhood, my own community ... It's a kind of conformism. You have to be adventurous."<ref name=twsD21/>
Taha was not fond of contemporary French cinema and said "I'd much rather watch some dumb Hollywood movie than another haute bourgeois auteurist piece of crap."<ref name=twsD21/> He was a critic of the Bush administration although he made comments favoring a bombing raid on Iran, and said that "Iran shouldn't be allowed to have nukes."<ref name=twsD21/>
Taha suffered from Chiari malformation diagnosed in 1987. "I'm tired of people thinking I'm a drunk on stage. While these are the symptoms of Arnold Chiari disease. I'm stumbling because I'm losing my balance. I'm wavering. It generates a disruption in the body."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Taha died from a heart attack in his sleep on 12 September 2018, six days before his 60th birthday.<ref>Le Monde: Mort du chanteur Rachid Taha, légende du métissage musical Template:In lang</ref> A posthumous album, Je suis Africain, previously finished before his death, was released on September 20, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
- Plastino, Goffredo (2003). Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds. Routledge. Template:ISBN.
External links
- Rachid Taha Official Site
- Template:Usurped
- Read an album review of Diwân 2 at Allaboutjazz.com
- Rachid Taha "Rock El Casbah" on Youtube
- Rachid Taha song appears on Saturday Night Live, ArabMp3.Site
- Pages with broken file links
- 1958 births
- 2018 deaths
- Algerian emigrants to France
- Musicians from Oran
- Kabyle people
- Raï musicians
- Wrasse Records artists
- People from Sig
- Knitting Factory Records artists
- Island Records artists
- Barclay Records artists
- 20th-century Algerian male singers
- 21st-century Algerian male singers
- English-language singers from Algeria
- French-language singers of Algeria
- Arabic-language singers of Algeria