AA.VV. - Sweet Rebels – The Golden Era Of Algerian Pop-Raï
2025 (Wewantsounds)
raï
7.5
“Maranza di tutto il mondo, unitevi!” è il titolo, azzardato ma efficace, con cui DeriveApprodi ha scelto di tradurre l’ultimo saggio di Houria Bouteldja, pubblicato nel 2023 in Francia e l’anno successivo nel nostro paese. Nel provocatorio pamphlet, l’attivista e teorica franco-algerina si chiede quale possa essere l’argine metropolitano al dilagare delle estreme destre, individuandolo nei “barbari” appostati nelle periferie europee: indesiderabili all’ennesima potenza, marginalizzati dal nuovo suprematismo bianco ma invisi anche alle sinistre, che ne snobbano l’ostentata volgarità e l’asservimento al consumismo più effimero. Facendo risuonare la profezia finale de “L’Uomo a una dimensione” nel manifesto anticoloniale “I dannati della terra”, la prospettiva di Bouteldja apre inediti orizzonti di lotta di classe.
Non c’è bisogno di ribadire l’importanza dell’Algeria come paese-simbolo della decolonizzazione, in particolare francofona. Meno ossequioso il trattamento riservato al prodotto culturale più esportato dal gigante maghrebino: sarà per l’ingombrante sagoma mediatica di Khaled, la musica raï viene il più delle volte accantonata sullo scaffale tra il kitsch e il tamarro, specie nella deriva pop che ha preso piede dagli anni 80. E se invece fossero proprio quegli accorati melismi sintetici l’esperanto per i reietti da cui partirà la prossima rivoluzione?
La pensa così la WEWANTSOUNDS, che torna a deliziarci con una preziosa raccolta di tesori nascosti. Messi insieme dal dj Cheb Gero e accompagnati dalle liner notes dell’esperto Rabah Mezouane, gli otto brani sono pescati dalle innumerevoli cassette vendute tra le piazze e i vicoli di Orano, con copertine da mandare al tappeto il più improbabile dei neomelodici. Sono canzoni figlie della strada e del vizio, tra sordidi bordelli e locali battuti da novelli Genet, teatro di traffici tra i più inenerrabili. Una dissolutezza senza filtri che dà voce all’insofferenza giovanile, allo sdegno politico ma anche al sentimentalismo indomito di “dolci ribelli” che hanno eletto a loro martire il compianto Cheb Hasni. E chi vorrebbe derubricare il tutto a sottofondo per matrimoni o abbuffate di kebab farebbe meglio a tapparsi la bocca: come la mettiamo con l’electro sfuggente di “Ghir Hbibi Ouana” (Cheb Abdelhak), l’impeccabile reggae di “Ala Bladi Nebki” (Abderrahmane Djalti) o il quasi-blues di “Chabe Rassi” (Cheikha Djenia El K’bira)?
Non solo baffi: se è vero che il raï nasce donna sotto la stella della leggendaria Cheikha Rimitti, quella gloriosa tradizione viene qui vivificata da nomi come Chaba Hamina, Chaba Zohra e Chaba Noria, eredi delle meddahates che iniziavano gli spettacoli invocando il Profeta per poi intonare versi via via più osé. In quelle performance licenziose, facendosi beffe di convenzioni e pregiudizi, queste eroine dimenticate smettevano di essere le malinconiche “donne nei loro appartamenti” ritratte da Assia Djebar, trovando nella musica una formidabile leva di affermazione e riscatto. I frutti più golosi, in ogni caso, vengono colti dall’albero dei duetti lui-lei: su tutti la spiritata “Matczaafiche Omizi” di Djilali Tiarti e Chaba Zohra, holler quasi metafisico, con tocchi di autentico voodoo.
E se le élite storceranno il naso, tanto meglio: noi continueremo a farci ipnotizzare da “Sweet Rebels”, colonna sonora di party da marciapiede per maranza e non.
Ride the wave of great music
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28/03/2025
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Ossydiana Speri, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
Tracklist
- 1. Cheikha Djenia El K'bira - Chabe Rassi
- 2. Cheb Zahouani - Zinek Bekani
- 3. Chaba Zohra - Ki Bghitouni Nabra
- 4. Cheb Abdelhak - Ghir Hbibi Ouana
- 5. Abderrahmane Djalti - Ala Bladi Nebki
- 6. Chaba Amina - Kindi Ebatal
- 7. Cheb Tahar & Chaba Noria - La Hbibi Ouaalah Ela
- 8. Djilali Tiarti & Chaba Zohra - Matczaafiche Omizi
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