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 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 ...

Cheb Mami’s name may not be on the tip of your tongue, but odds are his music is. Over the past decade, this Algerian native has skyrocketed to the top of the world’s Arabic rai (pronounced “rye”) ...

The French baguette, Algerian Rai music and Tunisia's harissa condiment are among this year's contenders for recognition as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, which started deliberations Monday ...

Raï Story is a musical journey in search of the Raï legend, Cheikha Remitti, in Oran, Algeria, where the Raï musical tradition began. In 1923, the first Raï singers performed behind screens during ...

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 ...