SOUAD MASSI (ALGERIA)
Souad Massi , often considered the most beautiful female voice in North Africa, has built her reputation over a career spanning more than 20 years. Driven by an unwavering determination to speak out for what she values most: freedom and justice, her songs are imbued with love, altruism, and courage, with a relentless will to eradicate intolerance. She has been called the Tracy Chapman of the Maghreb. Far from the groundbreaking wave of raï, Souad Massi, with her folk inspiration and guitar slung over her shoulder, brought a new sound to Algerian music. Born in the 1970s to a modest family in Algiers, Souad Massi discovered music at a very young age.
From the beginning, his music was a blend of encounters, contrasts, and cultures, as he studied what we call " classical " music alongside Arabic-Andalusian music. He grafted his own influences onto these two demanding genres: blues, folk, and rock. Souad Massi moved easily from one style to the other, playing in the early 1990s with the flamenco group Triana from Algiers and at the end of the decade with the hard rock group Atakor.
Souad Massi released her first solo cassette in 1998. Writing her own lyrics and music, she attracted so much attention during the " Femmes d'Algérie " festival held in Paris in January 1999 that she was signed by Universal Music Island-Mercury, which produced her first album. That album, " Raoui " (The Storyteller), was released in March 2001. Moving from rock to traditional music, the public discovered an artist who mastered styles as diverse as American folk-rock , mixing electric and acoustic instruments with her pure and moving voice. The album sold over 80,000 copies, and Souad Massi performed all over France to packed houses, in venues such as La Cigale and the Olympia . In 2002, the French State named her a "Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters". With "Deb," his second album, released in 2003, Souad Massi modernized his world music and embarked on several tours in France and the rest of Europe, as well as Central Africa, North America, and Oceania. "Deb" was nominated for the 2004 Victoires de la Musique in the category of Best World Music Album.
In 2005, she became a United Nations Ambassador for Microcredit, aiming to help women in Africa. Her album "Mesk Elil" (The Scent of Honeysuckle), released in 2005, is tinged with nostalgia and addresses the pain of exile and distance. The result of several collaborations, its musical breadth reveals a great openness to the world. In 2006, "Mesk Elil" received the Victoire de la Musique for Best Album in the "World Music" category.
In 2007, Souad Massi's first live album, "Acoustic: The Best of Souad Massi," was released, featuring more intimate acoustic versions of her songs. In 2010, Souad Massi released her fourth studio album, " Houria ," produced by French singer Francis Cabrel. Many songs on this album are in French. The reason, the artist explains, is that she wanted to thank her fans who don't speak Arabic.
2010 also marked the beginning of Souad Massi's collaboration with guitarist Eric Fernández on the project " Choeurs de Cordoue ", which offers a new approach to Arabic-Andalusian music.
In 2011, Souad Massi was awarded the World Music Prize by the French rights organization SACEM. " El MutakallimUn " was released in 2015. This album features lyrics taken from the works of great Arab poets such as Abu Madi from Lebanon, Abou El Kacem Chebbi from Tunisia, and the 10th-century Iraqi poet Al-Moutanabbi. In this remarkable blend of genres, Algerian folk rock meets African music, bossa nova, and traditional Algiers music.
From 2016 to 2019, she toured as part of a trio, alongside two friends in life and on stage: percussionist Rabah Khalfa, who has played with some of the biggest names in the French and Algerian music scene since the 1970s (Renaud, Idir, Matoub Lounïs, Aït Menguellest), and guitarist Mehdi Dalil, a 24-year-old prodigy. In 2017, she was elevated to the rank of " Official of the Order of Arts and Letters ". Her latest album, " Oumniya " (My Desire), was released in the fall of 2019 on Naive/Believe. The songs, mostly in Algerian dialect and French, convey her concerns for Algeria and the causes close to her heart. Her lyrics speak of freedom and emancipation, betrayal, love, and humanism.
Awards and nominations : 2001: 1st Gold Record in France 2002: Decorated Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France) 2003: 2nd Gold Record in France 2004: France - Nomination Victoires de la musique (Best World Music Album category) 2005: United Nations Ambassador for the cause of women in the world. 2006 : United Kingdom - BBC World Music Awards (MENA category) 2006 : France - Victoires de la musique Award (Best World Music Album category) 2011 : SACEM World Music Award 2017 : Decorated Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters 2020 : United Kingdom - Songlines Music Awards (nominated for Best Album Africa) 2020 : Netherlands - Edison Jazz World awards (nominated for Best World Music Album) Follow Souad Massi to find out more: https://souad-massi.com/en/ Instagram: @souad.massi Facebook: @Souad Massi YouTube @souadmassi9980
