#egypt
She was first named Saadia, meaning “the happy one” in Arabic. Then she became known as Cheikha Remitti, a title in Algeria often used for women seen as defiant and sexually rebellious. Later, she was called Oum Raï, the Mother of Raï, and then, almost paradoxically, Hadja, a name reserved for women who are pious and religious. Cheikha Remitti, the legendary Algerian raï singer, was a woman of many identities, many lives, and many voices. Yet at her core,…
