It does not matter if you are in your bedroom, squeezed on a crowded bus, walking through the streets, or sitting on a tiny balcony, because once Raï’s melodies begin to pour into your ears, your body responds without hesitation. Suddenly, you are on your feet, swaying, moving, and maybe even smiling without meaning to. There is a certain kind of pull in this North African music, a certain energy that feels like a return to an atmosphere reminiscent of a time that was both ancient and raw. It feels like it was created to awaken the body as much as the ear, with your body becoming an instrument within the music itself. And this is because Raï music was always born in raw, unpretentious spaces, sung and played in local cafés, smoky cabarets, and the everyday corners of Algerian life. It emerged in an era when the body was understood as its own instrument, and when music was made to bring people together in one room, moving in sync, fully swept up in the emotion of the song. While the pop version of Raï music, popularized globally by…
