SOUAD MASSI (ALGERIA)

Often considered the most beautiful female voice in North Africa, Souad Massi 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 constant will to eradicate intolerance. She has been described as the Tracy Chapman of the Maghreb. Far from the groundbreaking wave of raͯ, Souad Massi, with her folk inspiration and her guitar on 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, her music was a mix of encounters, contrasts and cultures, as she studied what we call "classical" music alongside Arabic-Andalusian music. Onto these two demanding genres she grafted her own influences: blues, folk and rock. Souad Massi easily shifted from one style to the other, playing in the early 1990s with the flamenco group Triana de 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 a lot of attention during the "Femmes d'Algérie" festival held in Paris in January 1999 to such an extent that she was signed by the Universal Music Island-Mercury label, which produced her first album. That album, "Raoui" (the storyteller), went on sale in March 2001. Moving from rock to traditional music, the public discovered an artist who mastered styles as distant as chaÍ¢bi and American folk-rock, mixing electric and acoustic instruments with her pure and soulful voice. The album sold over 80,000 copies and Souad Massi performed all over France to packed houses, at venues such as La Cigale and the Olympia. In 2002, the French state made her a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. With her second album, Deb, released in 2003, Souad Massi modernised her world music and embarked on several tours in France and the rest of Europe, as well as in 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, in order to help women in Africa. The album Mesk Elil (The Scent of Honeysuckle), released in 2005, is tinged with nostalgia and addresses the pain of exile and distance. The fruit of several collaborations, the musical breadth of which 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, “Í” Houria”, produced by French performer Francis Cabrel. Many songs on this album are in French. The reason, the artist explains, is that she wanted to thank her fans who do not speak Arabic. 2010 also marked the beginning of Souad Massi’s collaboration with guitarist Eric Fernandez 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 music rights society SACEM. «El MutakallimÍ»n» was released in 2015. This album features texts 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 mix of genres, Algerian folk rock meets African music, bossa nova and traditional music from Algeria. From 2016 to 2019, she toured as part of a trio, alongside two friends both 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 Lounͨs, Aͯt Menguellest), and guitarist Mehdi Dalil, a 24-year-old prodigy. In 2017, she was elevated to the rank of “Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters”. Her latest album, “Oumniya” (my desire) was released in autumn 2019 on Naͯve/Believe. The songs, mostly in Algerian dialect and in 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: Knight decorated with the Order of Arts and Letters (France) 2003: 2nd Gold Record in France 2004: France - Nomination Victoires de la musique (category Best World Music Album) 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 Prize for World Music 2017 : Decorated Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters 2020 : United Kingdom - Songlines Music Awards (nominated for Best Africa Album) 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