Rai singer Rachid Bryiah seeks broader audience

30/01/2008

Moroccan Rai singer Rachid Bryiah received a helping hand from superstar Cheb Khaled, who has invited him to come to France to seek international promotion of his music. Bryiah speaks with Magharebia about his plans and about the origins of Rai music.

Interview by Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 30/01/08

[Imane Belhaj] Raï King Cheb Khaled (left) has encouraged Morocco's Rachid Bryiah (right) to find a business manager in France to help the Moroccan artist promote his work both in Morocco and abroad.

Moroccan singer Rachid Bryiah will travel to France on invitation from Cheb Khaled, who has encouraged the Rai artist to find a business manager to promote his work both inside and outside Morocco. The "King of Rai" made his invitation to Bryiah – a relative by marriage – after the two met in Oujda last July at the first Rai Festival.

Magharebia: Hello Rachid. What are your new plans?

Bryiah: I am preparing to travel to France to sign a contract with professionals on the suggestion of King of Rai Cheb Khaled, who encouraged me in our recent meeting at the first Rai Festival in Oujda to take this step to further my career. According to him, the first step is to have a manager to promote an artist and his work.

Magharebia: So you are after an international audience?

Bryiah: Not in the whole sense of the word. I am primarily seeking professional and proper promotion of my music. I have been in the field for more than 20 years now, and I have forged a reputation of my own through Rai music based on folklore songs and songs deeply rooted in Moroccan society. Unfortunately, there hasn't been enough media support to introduce my new work. This has been a subject of discussion with Cheb Khaled, who directed me and urged me to pursue all possible channels to promote myself and my art. The logical start is to enter into a contract with a business manager from France, of course after consulting with Khaled. Hopefully, this will work well.

Magharebia: Does this mean potential plans to collaborate with Cheb Khaled?

Bryiah: If all goes well, there might be co-operation, but so far nothing is set out. As you know, Cheb Khaled is the Rai king, and was able to take that music to an international level. So, I would be happy if our meeting in France resulted in a joint effort.

Magharebia: How is Moroccan Rai related to the Algerian version?

Bryiah: Well Rai is a distinguished art, and the border area between Oujda, Morocco and Oran, Algeria – at a time when there were no borders between the two states – was well known for it. Rai has been continually passed down until today, and we share with Algerian artists such a cultural and artistic heritage, where great seniors excelled and younger generations attempted to innovate with a contemporary musical interpretation.

Magharebia: Talking of the young generations, what is your opinion of youth music today?

Bryiah: The current generation is quite open to others, in a spirit of co-existence and interaction between cultures and civilizations, which is nice. I believe that my trip to France falls within such a framework – one that benefits from others' experience. However, I refuse openness that turns into detachment from original culture and identity. I am referring here to the hip-hop phenomenon that has attracted Maghreb and Arab youth and that has become a real abstraction that threatens our identity. Hip-hop is an art that has its own peculiarities and conditions that produced it, and I do not see any comparison between what blacks have expressed in response to racial discrimination and what our young people are expressing in the name of hip-hop culture.