Rachid Baba Ahmed was an Algerian musical producer involved in a regional genre called raï. He was credited with the international popularization of the genre in 1976 through the new pop raï with a delicate, sophisticated blend of electronic instrumentation. He was also credited with the development of pop raï during the 1970s and 1980s,¹ the performers of which are called cheb or chaba. He was murdered by Islamic fundamentalists on February 15, 1995.

Rachid Baba, the producer of the album Rai Rebels and many other acclaimed titles released in the United States and elsewhere, explained without a hint of irony that, “In the beginning, I let chab sing the words as he wanted. Now I pay attention. When he sings a vulgarity, I say stop. If he doesn’t obey, I cut it during the mixing.”^[1] Baba is putting a new spin on rai music. He is realizing the need to spread his artists' words to a larger audience and is doing so through editing and in some ways censoring his lyrics to make them appropriate for everyone in the Franco-Maghrebi area. Baba helped many young and upcoming artists such as Cheba Fadela and Chev Sahraoui. Ahmed’s modern 24-track studio in Tlemcen was the powerhouse that produced Algerian pop-raï.^[2]

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[edit] Notes

1. Amazon.com

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