Bellemou Messaoud

Bellemou Messaoud

Bellemou Messaoud is an Algerian musician and one of the most influential performers of modern raï music. Known as the father of raï,[1] Messaoud began his career playing the trumpet but soon became known for adding foreign instruments like the saxophone,[2] violin, and accordion to the genre. In 1974 he coined the term pop-raï to describe the new generation of chebs and chebats (from the Arabic for "young") introducing new instruments,[3] and together with Belkacem Boutheldja released one of the first records of the new genre.[2]

References

  1. ^ Cliff Furnald, RootsWorld: African Archive #8, http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/feature/africa8.html, retrieved 2009-03-31 
  2. ^ a b Mehdid, Malika (2006), "For a Song – Censure in Algerian Rai Music", in Drewett, Michael; Cloonan, Martin, Popular music censorship in Africa, Ashgate Publishing, p. 206, ISBN 9780754652915 
  3. ^ Marranci, Gabriele (2005), "Algerian Raï into Beur Raï: The Music of Return", in Cooper, David; Dawe, Kevin, The Mediterranean in Music, Scarecrow Press, p. 199, ISBN 9780810854079