Souad Massi is the artist guiding the new generation of Algerian musicians. With her sweet voice, she sings in Arabic music that is close to folk-rock, a delicate Algerian folk-rock rich in soft harmonies, which she reinforces with human and sensitive lyrics. Born in Alger in 1972 into a family of artists, at the age of 17 she Souad she was already running on the stages of her country, guitar on her shoulder, performing solo. In his training he has drawn from many musical sources: folk, country, classical music, Arabic-Andalusian, Algerian chaâbi, raï... His music is influenced by the three cultures that coexist in his native Algeria: the Amazigh culture of Kabylia (Berber), Arabic and French.

She publishes her first work in 1997 and breaks sales records. She begins to have difficulties in her country (for which she represented the free expression of a woman) and that is when she receives an invitation to participate in the "Women of Algeria" festival. Paris discovers Souad Massi and is impressed by her presence, overcoming language barriers. After the concert, she signed with the Island-Mercury label the publication of Raoui in 2001, with a reception that exceeded all her forecasts. She also had the support of some of her countrymen such as Idir, the Orchester National de Barbès and other musicians with whom she shared the stage; later he recorded some duets with recognized artists, of which "Noir et blanc" stood out, recorded with Ismael Lô, a song that arises as a reaction to the xenophobic wave that travels the world after the events of September 11 in New York and that is included as bonus track on a later edition of the disc.

Tracks list:

01. Raoui

02. Bladi

03. Amessa

04. Tant pis pour moi

05. Noir et blanc (duo con Ismael Lô)

06. Hayati

07. Nekreh el Kelb

08. Denya

09. Khsara Aalik

10. Rani Rayha

11. J'ai pas de temps

12. Awham

13. Lamen

14. Enta Dari

15. Matebkiche

16. Paris (duo con Marc Lavoine)

17. Tant pis pour moi (versión single)

Sitio web oficial: Souad Massi

The Orchester National de Barbès is the noise, the smell and the soul of this mestizo neighborhood of Paris, but also the fusion of the different North African and French musical communities, the union of 11 musicians from different regions of the Maghreb and France who set up a repertoire that puts everyone in agreement, Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians and French from the popular neighborhoods. Their penultimate album, Rendez-vous Barbès (2010), is a synthesis of the 3 previous ones and comes to breathe a new dynamic into North African music of which they are the best ambassadors.

With Algerian and Moroccan roots, the members of this orchestra lived in the Parisian neighborhood of Barbès when they got together to make music in 1995. Barbès is an emblem of the history of immigration in France, the place where many Algerian, Moroccan and , Malians or Senegalese chose their first address, usually a room in a dilapidated hotel, hoping to scrape together a little money. And it is in the cafes of this neighborhood that the North African music scene was born in France, then confidential and frequented only by the hundreds of immigrants who came down to the cafe on their way back from the factory, to listen to some songs from their country. Mythical singers came from there, like Dahmane El Harrachi or Cheb Khaled.

Today, more than fifteen years later, the Orquestre National de Barbès continues to mix traditional Maghrebi styles, raï, reggae and Gnawa music with contemporary sounds and rhythms to show the world the sound richness of Africa, including both the north and the lands. that start from the Sahara desert, emphasizing the most festive rhythms and taking tradition as a base to adapt it to the sounds of today.

Rendez-vous Barbès is a synthesis of his three previous works. Songs inspired by allaoui, raï, gnawa, chaabi, Berber, reggae rhythms... combined with an energy inspired by rock and ska. A snapshot of the energy and creative spirit that characterizes the popular neighborhoods of Paris, an album that invites you to dance and that would almost make you forget the "too serious" of the inhabitants of the French capital. In short, "an intense album, which results in an invitation to travel through that immense world that is found in the streets of that multicultural neighborhood that is Barbès".

Tracks list:

01. Sidi Yahia-bnet Paris

02. Chkoun?

03. No no no

04. Chorfa

05. RDV Barbès

06. Jarahtini-Marhba-Jibouhali

07. Rod Balek

08. Laafou

09. Denya

10. Allah idaouia

Página web oficial: Orchestre National de Barbès