{"id":19140,"date":"2021-06-03T03:57:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T08:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jazairhope.org\/?p=19140"},"modified":"2021-06-03T03:57:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T08:57:28","slug":"rachid-taha-obituary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jazairhope.org\/en\/rachid-taha-obituary\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachid Taha obituary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rachid Taha, who has died of a heart attack aged 59, shook up the global music scene with his inventive and fiery fusion of Algerian styles and rock, techno and punk. An engagingly bohemian-looking figure, influenced by the Clash as well as by chaabi and rai music, he became a bestselling artist across the Arab-speaking world and will be remembered for <\/span>Rock el Casbah<\/a>, his 2004 treatment of the Clash song\u00a0<\/span>Rock the Casbah<\/a>\u00a0and for his international dance hit\u00a0<\/span>Ya Rayah<\/a>, as well as for his energy, angry political stance and wit.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He appeared alongside\u00a0Damon Albarn<\/a>\u00a0at many\u00a0Africa Express<\/a>\u00a0events, and Albarn described him as \u201ca beautiful person, very naughty, impish and with bright eyes and generous with his time. I just loved him and always enjoyed performing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rachid

Rachid Taha performing at the Rio Loco festival in Toulouse, France, 2009.\u00a0Photograph: Remy Gabalda\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Born in Sig, near Oran, on Algeria\u2019s north-west coast, the son of Aicha Djahel and Ali Taha, he grew up listening to Algerian music. When Rachid was 10 his father moved to France looking for work and, according to Rachid, \u201cended up in a textile factory, like a modern slave\u201d. The family followed him to France, where at the age of 17 Rachid worked in a central heating plant outside Lyon, which he hated. By night he was a club DJ for the local north African community, playing Arabic music along with funk, rap and salsa, and started writing poetry and political songs, also influenced, he said, by <\/span>the Clash<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Linton Kwesi Johnson<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Lyon he started his first band, Carte de S\u00e9jour (Residence Permit), who sang Arabic and punk-influenced songs that commented on \u201cworking conditions and the way that immigrants are treated\u201d. They achieved national notoriety with their version of the patriotic Douce France<\/a>\u00a0(Sweet France), originally recorded by\u00a0Charles Trenet<\/a>\u00a0in the 1940s. They changed none of the lyrics but it was performed with a bitter irony that infuriated many listeners, and was banned from radio. Carte de S\u00e9jour were never a commercial success and Taha was forced to do a series of other jobs, including painting houses, washing up in a restaurant and selling encyclopedias door to door.<\/p>\n

In 1989 he moved to Paris to launch a solo career. His 1991 album Barb\u00e8s was produced by Don Was, who had worked with the\u00a0Rolling Stones<\/a>, but it was not a success. He did better when he teamed up once again with the British producer Steve Hillage, who had produced an album for Carte de S\u00e9jour, Rhorhomanie (1984), after deciding: \u201cI want to be involved in this. This is the business.\u201d A former member of those psychedelic rockers and hippy heroes\u00a0Gong<\/a>, Hillage would go on to produce the majority of Taha\u2019s solo albums, starting with Rachid Taha (1993), which included north African and European influences and included the anti-racism anthem\u00a0Voil\u00e0 Voil\u00e0<\/a>, popular with English DJs.<\/p>\n

Taha became a star, pioneering a new north African rock fusion style while also reviving and reworking classic Algerian songs. His 1995 album Ol\u00e9 Ol\u00e9 included songs co-written with Hillage, and in 1999 he released Diwan, a selection of cover songs from\u00a0Algeria<\/a>, Morocco and Egypt, with backing provided by traditional instruments such as the oud but with Hillage adding guitar and programming. It included his treatment of Ya Rayah, one of the first Arabic songs to become popular with European club DJs, and a top seller from Turkey to Colombia.<\/p>\n

In September 1998 he appeared alongside the rai stars\u00a0Khaled<\/a>\u00a0and Faudel for the rai spectacular 1, 2, 3 Soleils, in which they were backed by a full orchestra flown in from Egypt before a capacity audience at the Bercy Stadium in Paris. It was, said Rachid, the first north African concert to be given serious coverage in the French media. The event led to a live double album, again produced by Hillage. But despite the success of the project, Taha insisted that his main influence was not rai but the popular Algerian style chaabi, which he said was closely linked to blues and rock. \u201cThis isn\u2019t rai,\u201d he told me. \u201cI\u2019m more of a Rai Cooder \u2013 and I mix my influences, like\u00a0Asian Dub Foundation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Rachid<\/picture><\/div>
Rachid Taha, left, on stage in Marseille, France, with Fatoumata Diawara and Africa Express in 2013.<\/span>\u00a0Photograph: Stephen Budd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Taha\u2019s success continued with the 2001 album\u00a0Made in Medina<\/a>, a chaabi-punk-pop fusion that included musicians from New Orleans and Egypt, and the classic 2004 set\u00a0T\u00e9kitoi<\/a>, which included Rock el Casbah, with Arabic influences mixed in with the familiar guitar chords of the Clash classic, and a collaboration with\u00a0Brian Eno<\/a>. Some of his later albums received more mixed reviews but he returned to form in 2013 with\u00a0Zoom<\/a>. Produced by Justin Adams, it included guitar work from\u00a0Mick Jones<\/a>\u00a0of the Clash and a North African treatment of Elvis Presley\u2019s\u00a0Now or Never<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taha was best experienced live. On stage he had the charisma of a classic rock\u2019n\u2019roll rebel, a blend of Gene Vincent and\u00a0Joe Strummer<\/a>. He was at his peak\u00a0at the Royal Festival Hall<\/a>\u00a0in 2002, where he came on dressed in black, a thin, scruffy figure with tousled hair who sang hunched over the microphone and then fell to his knees. He performed songs from Diwan, \u201cto pay homage to my culture\u201d, and then discussed\u00a0David Bowie<\/a>\u00a0and T Rex. When he started talking about politics his approach was equally inclusive. \u201cBlack and white \u2013 the same,\u201d he announced. \u201cArabs and Jews \u2013 the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taha\u2019s musical approach and views made him a perfect member of Africa Express, the freewheeling project co-founded by Albarn that encourages African and western musicians to collaborate. He was there at\u00a0the first<\/a>, now legendary, Africa Express show, an unannounced five-hour spectacular at the Park Stage at the 2007 Glastonbury festival. It was a wet, muddy evening but Taha was in fiery form, joining a cast that included\u00a0Baaba Maal<\/a>,\u00a0K\u2019naan<\/a>\u00a0and of course Albarn. He went on to play at many other Africa Express events and Albarn said that Taha \u201cwas at the heart of what we did\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 2016 Taha received a Victoire de la Musique lifetime achievement award \u2013 the French equivalent of a Grammy or Brit award. For several years he had suffered from a rare form of muscular dystrophy but he continued to work. He had finished recording a new album earlier this year, as yet untitled but due for release in 2019.<\/p>\n

He is survived by V\u00e9ronique Pr\u00e9, his longtime partner, and by their son, Lyes.<\/p>\n