Rachid Taha

Career

Raï roots

In the 1980s, Algeria's indigenous pop music known as raï began to achieve international attention.

Carte de Séjour In 1981, while living in Lyon, Taha met Mohammed and Mokhtar Amini and the three of them, along with Djamel Dif and Eric Vaquer, would soon form a band. In 1982, Taha was the lead vocalist for the Arab-language rock group which they named Carte de Sejour, meaning Green Card or Residence Permit depending on the translation.

Taha believed his early recordings helped to inspire The Clash to create the song "Rock the Casbah". Later, in 2007, Taha-as-an-immigrant was mentioned in France's National Center of the History of Immigration.

When performing live, Taha wore various outfits, including at one point a leather fedora hat, then later a red cowboy hat. The band's second and last LP entitled Ramsa (Five) was released in 1986. The band dissolved in 1989.

Solo years In 1989, Taha moved to Paris to launch his solo career.

In 2001, Taha released Made in Medina, and a music critic commented that he used a "full and varied instrumental palette" along with "a dizzying vocal facility that transcends whatever style he's plugged." In 2005 Taha performed with Robert Plant, Patti Smith and Brian Eno. The song suggested rock music as "banned but unstoppable". The Guardian selected "Rock El Casbah" as one of the top 50 cover songs.

Taha played in Morocco in 2006. In 2007, Taha performed in Canada and a reporter from the Montreal Gazette described his performance while wearing a "pewter pimp suit" which was "stunning":

An Algerian mandole or mandolute, played by a member of Mon côté punk.

In 2008 he performed with the band Dengue Fever. He was described as a ""wild Algerian punk fan" performing among a lineup which read like a "Who's Who of West African music", and was part of "Africa Express", a response to the lack of African musicians at Bob Geldof's Live 8 musical extravaganza.

In 2008, Taha was growing increasingly prominent, with greater audiences in places such as Canada, although there were reports that his music had "trouble getting airplay" in France. He performed with Nigerian artists Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti in Lagos at a "Felabration" of the music of their late father Fela Kuti, as well as with Brian Eno in an anti-war concert in London.

In 2009, Taha released Bonjour which The Guardian music critic Robin Denselow described as "calmed down" under a new producer, Gaëtan Roussel. Denselow wrote: "The result is an unlikely set in which Taha appears to be deliberately courting a new, wider market by playing down that wild rebel image." Taha performed with Algerian artist Mehdi Haddab who plays the oud. Taha's song "Habina" was featured in the 2010 film, It's Kind of a Funny Story. Guitarist Carlos Santana recorded his song Migra which went on to sell over 25 million copies. Jones toured with Taha as part of the Zoom project. The album included a new recording of "Voilà, Voilà". Taha also recorded "Now or Never" (words and music by Aaron Schroeder / Wally Gold and previously recorded by Elvis Presley), which features Jeanne Added singing in English.

Use of Taha's songs in movies and computer games

The song '"Barra Barra'" from his album Made in Medina was featured in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down as well as in the Games Convention 2008 trailer of the game Far Cry 2. It was also featured in the 2007 film The Hunting Party.

His song "Garab" from Made in Medina was used in the movie The Truth About Charlie in 2002, and also in Blood and Chocolate in 2007.

His song "Ya Rayah" from his album Carte Blanche was used in the 2006 movie Something New.

"Ya Rayah" was also allegedly plagiarized by the composer duo Sanjeev–Darshan for their song "Kali Nagin Ke Jaisi" in the soundtrack of the Bollywood film Mann (transl. The Psyche).

Reviews Some critics attribute Taha's unique sound to his use of the mandolute, a mixture of the traditional oud with European fretted instruments. One critic described his arrangements as "no less bombastic" since they mixed North African rhythms and "string orchestra flourishes" with "pummeling big-beat techno, distorted electric guitars, snatches of Bo Diddley, Led Zeppelin and other macho sounds." Music critic Robin Denselow felt Taha's Bonjour album was calm – "he switches between Arabic and French in this mix of pleasant ballads and novelty pop, with just the occasional reminder of the old passion and anger." Denselow wrote:

quote|Taha's blend of anger and angst has been distilled into a set of songs that match crunching guitar chords, simple riffs and angry lyrics (in French and Arabic) with subtle, wailing flourishes of North African embellishment. – Robin Denselow, The Guardian, 2007 French music critic Amobe Mevegue described Taha as an "eclectic artist".

Discography and filmography

Personal life and death Taha was described as "gregarious" and "quick with a smile." A person who liked to party throughout the night,

Taha died from a heart attack in his sleep on 12 September 2018, six days before his 60th birthday. A posthumous album, Je suis Africain, previously finished before his death, was released on September 20, 2019.