On Where the Greatest New Music Is Being Created in 2010: And the runner-up is...

 

George,

I may have sent this to you before.  If not .........

Frank

I think Baha'i-inspired music as a genre, being created in all parts of the globe and so diverse, is the greatest new music of today. So here is a great suggestion for a runner-up. Thanks, Frank, for sending  this on. -gw

----- Original Message ----- From: Martin -- Where is the greatest new music being created in 2010?

Y'all,

I have spent many hours exploring the music of various countries this year,
and it can accumulate like a tower of Babel unless you are able to process
the Art with knowledge of both past and present.

New Orleans was one of the great multi cultural focal points 100 years
ago.  Historians basically agree on this fact, but WHERE is it happening
today?

I believe it is in Algeria, and is expressed through a style called
Raï.  This is a style which blends just about everything the pop musicians
of the world are trying to say. There is Muslim Raï, Hindu Raï, Hip-Hop
Raï, and it has a common thread.  The message is perhaps best found in the
1996 song by Khaled.  The English translated lyrics are:

"El Harba Wayn"

Where has youth gone?
Where are the brave ones?
The rich gorge themselves
The poor work themselves to death
The Islamic charlatans show their true face...
You can always cry or complain
Or escape... but where?

W.A.Y.N. = Where Are You Now?

The literal translation of raï is "opinion" (along with "my way", "tell it
like it is!" and many other possible translations).  Raï is the symbol of a
lifestyle of cynicism and anti-authoritarianism, and is the common thread
of almost all new art that has ever been created by the youth of our
world.  Try and tell me that Jazz and Ragtime weren't cynical and
anti-authoritarian.  They most certainly were!

Marty

Here are some fine examples, if you would like to follow:

My favorite, because it captures so much modern reality (and with humor):

Is this Latin, African Tribal, or Muslim? Who cares!

 

The 1996 W.A.Y.N. video.  We're NOT in India? No, this is from Algeria.

Big Ali, a NYC born Hip-Hop musician turned French and Algerian Raï artist:

Posted via email from baha'i music