Souad Massi - Deb (Heartbroken)
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Artist: Souad MassiEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-06-29
Music Label: Wrasse Records
Soundtracks:
- Ya Kelbi (Oh! My Heart)
- Ghir Enta (I Only Love You)
- Ech Edani (I Shouldn't Have Fallen in Love With You)
- Yemma (Mummy, I Lie to You)
- Yawlidi (My Little Boy)
- Le Bien et le Mal (Good and Evil)
- Houria (Freedom)
- Deb (Heart Broken)
- Moudja (The Wave)
- Passe le Temps (As Time Goes By)
- Theghri (I Send an S.O.S.)
- Bel el Madhi (The Gate of the Past)
Music reviews of Deb (Heartbroken)
Music Review: San Francisco Chronicle
Rating: 5 Stars
In the early 1990s, Algeria had become a desperate country. Killings and disappearances, sparked by the military government's "dirty war" with Islamists, instilled fear everywhere, including its capital, Algiers, where Souad Massi was trying to establish herself as a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Even walking the streets with her guitar case was a challenge in a country where fundamentalists frowned upon anything they deemed too Western. A low point came in 1997 when Massi -- by then, playing in a hard-rock band called Atakor -- received anonymous death threats. By 1998, she had essentially given up performing.
"Being a woman in such an environment and choosing to pursue such a career wasn't regarded as a good thing at the time," Massi said in a phone interview from Paris. "Now that I have experienced success, I'm happy."
Massi's success has been one of world music's most riveting stories. After moving to Paris five years ago, she recorded "Raoui," an album that sold more than 100,000 copies. Her latest release, "Deb (Heart Broken)," which received airplay on many U.S. stations -- and her current American tour, which brings her to San Francisco on Sunday -- are further indications that Massi has established an international audience for her music, which critics have compared to Tracy Chapman's, Joni Mitchell's and Joan Baez's.
The truth is that Massi is a musical chameleon. On a recent single she did with Senegalese singer Ismael Lo, a stunning remake of Bernard Lavilliers' "Black and White," she sounds like a pop diva. With other musicians, she'll emphasize a more Arabic sound that's driven by oud (lute) and derbouka (drum). But then, she'll play with Indian tabla players, or she'll do an acoustic number where she slips into being "an Arabic folkie," as some people have called her.
Just by appearing on stage, Massi defies the prevailing image of Algeria, a Muslim country that has experienced relative political calm in the past few years. With her good looks, playful demeanor and low-key yet fashionable dress -- not to mention her outspoken lyrics about love and romance -- Massi evokes a certain rebelliousness and cosmopolitism. At age 31, Massi, who sings in French and Arabic, is really just starting her professional career.
"I never thought I'd go this far," she said in words that are translated into English from French.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of Massi's musical biography is her affinity for Kenny Rogers and other country stars who were popular in the 1970s and '80s. Massi first began listening to country and folk music after she became fascinated with Western movies such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Massi's siblings made fun of her tastes, but Massi has said her youthful interests stemmed from a desire to be a tomboy in a country that doesn't value women.
"I was scared to really be a woman because the status of women in Algeria frightened me," she told the publication fRoots. "Ever since I was young, I saw that women weren't valued, so I said to myself, 'I'll become a boy and save myself from all these problems.' So I loved Westerns."
Massi's life changed completely in 1999, when a French Algerian promoter invited her to perform at a "Women of Algeria" concert in Paris. The acclaim and positive reaction she received at that January concert were so moving that she decided to stay in France. Massi returns to Algeria on occasion, but she hasn't performed there since leaving Algiers. In previous years, Massi said it wouldn't be right to play in a country that was still experiencing scores of slayings. But now that Algeria is no longer the "living hell" that Massi said it was, she's looking forward to doing a concert there.
Though Massi's songs are often about love and relationships, some can be interpreted as commentaries about her native land. "Houria (Freedom)," a Flamenco-tinged lament on her album "Deb," features such lines as "I'm afraid of the future" and "Outside it's summer. And people sing their happiness. Here the fall follows me." Massi practically bursts into tears on the number, and yet on "Yawlidi (My Little Boy)," which is also on "Deb," Massi laughs infectiously as she orchestrates a hypnotic (and happy) dance tune that sounds like a Congolese rumba.
That's what Massi's fans really like about her. She puts all her feelings into her music, unafraid to show just one side of herself or to reach out to seemingly strange musical genres. Massi is Amazigh (more commonly known as Berber) and Muslim, but she defies classification.
"My music comes from different horizons," said Massi, who was first inspired to pick up a guitar because of an uncle who played jazz and flamenco. "I wouldn't like only to be doing one sort of thing, or having one sort of influence in my music."
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