Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Sidi Rabi

Boussoir Maghnaoui (also seen as Boussouar el Maghnaoui) was from… Hmm. Here’s where things get a little fuzzy. Most sources that say he was from Maghnia, Algeria. But I also have other sources that say he was from Oujda, Morocco. Those two cities are roughly 28 kilometers / 17 miles apart.

Unlike most of the Raï / Proto Raï that I have heard, the organ is very prominent on this track. The song starts off with a “stwanat” – where the artist announces the record label his name as well as the name of the performers. That is followed a sort of poem – or mawwal – that doesn’t have anything to do with the usual intros and tributes to other artists or football players or cities. This song features Messaoud Bellemou – known as “The Father of Raï” – on trumpet.

Thanks to Hicham Chadly, Jonathon Ward and Loïc Guillaume for input on this post.

Catalog number N· 496 on Sawt-Hilali of Algeria. No release date listed.