Kenza

I have no frame of reference from which to judge this. And yet I love it. It loses an entire star because of Imagine.

I coudn't figure out any way to listen to this album, so instead, I'm going to leave notes for Want One by Rufus Wainwright. Only because I saw that this list already offered up Want Two and I'm like "Want Two? The fuck is wrong with this list?" Because Want One is every good part of Rufus Wainwright in one album. If you're not won over by the first two tracks of Want One, then... then you probably wouldn't like the rest of it. But it's one the perfect albums and I would give it 5 stars. Maybe Khaled's Kenza is exactly the same way.

wow, this guy managed to inject a bit of life in to imagine. The point of this whole list is to go out of your comfort zone and listen to some stuff you wouldn't choose to and this definitely fits the bill. however weirdly i've probably heard this album more than most as it seems this is a standard issue CD for taxi drivers.

Thought this was a fun album and nice change of pace from the other albums we have heard so far. Unfortunately with this album not being on Spotify I listened on YouTube and it became a major distraction - the ads, a playlist with the tracks out of order, and skipping audio (at first I thought this was my wifi but upon further investigation it seemed to be the source files). In any case I enjoyed the singing, including the duets, and the music was lively and exciting. Would listen again if I find another way to listen and enjoy it more.

Extremely enjoyable to listen to. Put me in a good mood and got me to listen to Middle Eastern music all day which made me feel good. The version of Imagine was pleasant too. I heard all kinds of influences, French, Caribbean, Latin. Or did those genres pull inspiration from artists like him?

1001 calls him the "king of Rai", Rai being a genre coming out of Algeria. Distinctly melodic with Arabic influence, Khaled shines when he doesn't sound so goddamn poppy. This is made distinctly worse by a cornball-cover of John Lennon's Imagine, though it'll be hard to top that one cover done by all the celebrities at the start of the pandemic. I do appreciate Khaled's Algerian background, I really do, but this is too commercial, too pop to retain many good qualities. The opening track, Aâlach Tloumouni, is the obvious standout here for being the closest to standard Rai music, but the rest is watered down. It's also a half-hour too long.

Cover aus der Reihe „Ein Schöner Mann“. Hab mich auch gefreut, etwas anderes zu hören, aber Arabisch hört sich für mich leider häufig rückwärts gesungen an. Im Vorwärtsgang und auf Deutsch wäre dies schlimmer Schlagerpop. Satter Sympathie Punkt für seine sonst weltoffene Haltung wurde durch gefährliche Homophobie (Ansteckungsgefahr seiner Kids durch Frankreichs Legalisierung der Homo-Ehe) gecancelt. Schwör 0.5

Tego akurat sie czlowiek nie spodziewal, bo wylosowac arabskie disko polo jest prawdziwa sztuka, Kenza to album z 99 z gatunku muzyki rai, ktory oznacza algierska muzyke folkowa, ale tutaj wysteuje ona w odslonie dosc zmodernizowanej opierajacej swoje brzmienie na roznorakich gatunkach muzyki popularnej, soula, funku, czy nawet reggae, ale gdzies wplata te elementy typowe dla arabskiego folka, wiec tamburynowanie czy charakterystycznie drumowanie, ciezko napisac cos wiecej, bo praktycznie kazdy song ma inny sklad instrumentalny do tego to polaczenie tradycyjnego brzmienia z synthowymi klawiszami, skreczami i innymi nowinkami lat 90 daja czlowiekowi kociokwik, a to wszystko podane w bogatej opcji, bo az 78 minutowej, gdzie zmiescilo sie 15 trakow, ktorych rozszyfrowac nie jestem w stanie, bo oczywiscie po arabsku, prawie, bo pojawiaja sie takze dwa francuzkie utwory, pewnie covery, no i na dobitke czleka zaserwowany zostaje arabsko angielski cover imagine, moze przemawiaja przeze mnie uprzedzenia, ale arabski jedynie do piesni religijno folkowych, w muzyce rozrywkowej budzi jedynie skojarzenia z danzo kuduro czy helikopterowymi songami, wiec na plejke nic sie nie przekradnie tym razem

I was not expecting an Egyptian/Arabic sound but I'm so into this. I never hear this style outside of like, the Prince of Egypt soundtrack (which I do love). The lush strings, cool melodies, and joyful beats make me want to dance.

Again, loved the sound and instruments on this but fact it kept me from fully getting into the music. When the English verse of Imagine came on, it really showed the power of his voice and Noa (the female vocalist). The English and my knowledge of the song helped ease me into the rest of the album and I ended up enjoying it a lot. Great use of horns on Trigue Lycee and Ya Aachkou is an absolute bop. Total surprise for me, especially enjoyed the second half of the album. Really a 4.5 for me but going to round up

Super funky and interesting. Already saved it.

kinda cool, never heard of an Algerian artist before. straight ahead pop with a mix of this almost bollywood style vocal sound. But then C'est La Nuit is a totally different vocal texture. Kind of a straight up cover of Imagine, but sure it's nice. Trigue Lycee is a fucking bop. This album goes a lot of places sonically. Goulalah - Dji is a prefect example. Wow what a great listen!

Długo kminiłem co dać. Niesamowicie wciągające rytmy, przyjemne partie instrumentalne, pomaga fakt, że arabski i francuski to ładne języki. No i, co ważne, vibe jest mega przyjemny. Po prostu świetnie się tego słucha. Chętnie wrócę do niektórych kawałków. Kusiło dać 4, ale z drugiej strony, zapewne nie będzie takiego albumu już na liście 1001, więc co mi tam!

I really liked this! Just a lot of cool sounds and rhythms, plus I totally fell for the sapiness of him and an Israeli singer alternating verses of Imagine in Hebrew and Arabic.

very cool

I liked this alot more than I thought I would.

A blend of traditional Algerian, 90s pop, rock and blues. This was super fun to discover. Made me dance my pants off :)

The music is gorgeous and his voice is lovely.

I really got a kick out of this album, but on my first listen I really struggled with a lack of cultural context. Happy to see more worldly music, but it took me some time to find out more about Khaled. It clearly felt like it had western pop and jazz influences, and I loved listening to it! || I eventually found a write up on Khaled and that really helped me. Learning about the history of Rai music, and persecution in Algeria. || I don't think I'll find myself picking this up a lot, but I do really dig the sound, and would always be happy if some songs came up on shuffle. I think this is a 3 or 3.5 musically for me, but going to rate it a 4 because I love a musician who fights against unjust systems and gets to the heart of the people!!

Música étnica árabe

his imagine version is a banger

I was agreeably surprised to find this here. While I usually prefer other Rai musicians, this is a nice and fun album that I had never listen to in its entirety. Makes you want to dance and puts you in a good mood.

Good music! Never listened to Algerian folk music before, it's fun!

Well I really enjoyed this Arabic language tour through world music. Wonderful percussion sounds and interesting and varied instrumentation. really loved its mix of western style rhythm and ethnic sounds. 4 🌟

Well I really enjoyed this Arabic language tour through world music. Wonderful percussion sounds and interesting and varied instrumentation. really loved its mix of western style rhythm and ethnic sounds. 4 🌟

Lekkere beats ook al versta ik er niets van

Arabic gold

Glad I made the effort to find it.

French-African music - the first non-English-language, non-Western music I've got from this list since starting it nearly 3 months ago. First couple of tracks were a little bit cliche Eastern/Arabic, but the album really opens up with a variety of styles. Definitely listen-to-able.

Hadn't really heard a lot of Rai music and this is the first time of listening to this Album. A mixture of traditional North African/Algerian tunes and western pop/rock this album is definitely of interest. Reading of (Cheb) Khaleb and his approach to his craft it is clear he is both an innovator and a progressive musician. I liked this album and can see, in world music terms, why it is on the list. Loved his interpretation of "Imagine" and also "C'est Le Nuit" An interesting fact that old prog rocker Steve Hillage produced this album, was he jumping on Peter Gabriel's WOMAD bandwagon? I can see it's Value and glad I heard it.

Good album, I really enjoyed listening to it.

This one was wild. It was almost like some Bollywood film sounds but then a definite middle eastern sound. The blended into a pop or more modern sound. Very cool stuff.

Coś zupełnie innego i raczej kojarzy się z muzyką w wschodniej knajpie niż liście top albumów, ale jednocześnie jest ciekawa, bardzo rytmiczna i po prostu fajnie się tego słucha. Cover Imagine jest na tej płycie trochę zbędny.

Utmost surprised, wasn't expecting anything like that. After playing the first song I laughed for a solid minute. After that, I pulled myself together and listened more carefully, which turned out to be a good decision. Kenza is fun, full of Arabic tones and influences, which isn't something I've known before. Fresh and enjoyable, but I'll treat this as a quirky novelty.

Kenza is a fun departure from the more traditional, more obvious albums we've had so far. It's funky, it's fun, and it is repetetive, a fact not helped by me not understanding any of the lyrics. Having listened to it blindly, the random John Lenon in the middle really threw me on a loop too. That said, I cannot deny that it made me pay full attention again, and the remaining songs were good enough to hold it... the vibes were good, at the end of the day, and really does anyone need more?

There are pretty good songs on this. Melha might be my favorite. Sadly, I had to listed to this on YouTube with its stupid ads all the time, in a not-so-great quality. But better than nothing, I guess.

Música étnica árabe.

Really liked this, but could have done without the cover of Imagine.

Well this was unexpectedly good… was hard to find it to listen to but once I did was rewarded with a very eclectic album - and a very odd but pleasant rendition of Lennon’s Imagine.

Good disc.

Khaled s'en sort extrêmement bien, son album d'1h20 représentant un obstacle majeur à l'écoute de Napalm Death. En effet, malgré cela il réussit à obtenir la note de 4/5. Une belle performance pour une telle durée de baragouinage arabe.

Interesting, so yeah, I am of the incorrect culture to know this guy, or anything much about Rai in general. So going in more or less blind, it's a lot of fun, a lot of variety of styles (funk, samba, samba accordian, sir?) so you're never bored. Do skip over the cover of Imagine though as that is an abomination. Track 3, man, really? Do you want people to listen to your long long record, or not? The persevering explorer however will be rewarded with a good time. I could do without a second soft rock version of C'est la nuit though.

This album was a bit difficult to find, and even when I found it on Youtube, the track listing did not match the European or American releases. Nevertheless, I believe I got enough of the album to give it a rating. I am not familiar at all with Raï music, but after some reading, it seems as though it has a social justice element to it and addresses themes of colonization and disease. The music itself takes a western song structure form, but the vocal delivery is very unique and one I really like. The use of western instruments such as the sweeping punctuated strings along with Algerian instruments is really interesting and makes for listening that sounds familiar and new at the same time. It's always good to challenge your assumptions about what music should be and this album certainly does that for me.

Rating: 7/10

Some bangers on here. But too long for me

Pour etre franc, je trouve ca juste trop bon. Jj goldman a la realisation. 4.85

Beautiful

Pretty damn fun.

Finding Kenza on streaming services proved elusive, so I listened to Khaled's self titled album from 1991. It's around fifty minutes of hip-hop and dance infused Arabian music that leaves no stone unturned in regards to listenable grooves that are provided. Favorite songs include Didi, Ragda, El Ghathi, Braya and Ne m'en voulez pas.

Árabe. Pop

I really didn’t know what to expect with this, as I’ve never listened to raï music before and almost exclusively listen to music in English, but this was really fun! Such an enjoyable vibe, and put me in a great mood.

Mizmar meets accordion. An upbeat mix of Arabic, French and all sorts of other influences. It has enough 'western' elements to be instantly catchy and accessible, but still sounds unfamiliar and interesting. Above all it sounds joyful. It brightened up my drive to work. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Aâlach Tloumouni Date listened: 26/01/23

I’ve never heard (or heard of) Raï music before, so this was interesting, I like it.

not my styleeeee but probably a good 3, can appreciate but dont like it

Not soooo bad, he's got some good songs.

Silky smooth voice. Bit tacky at times, especially E'Dir E'Sseba.

So much passion in the vocals. Some nice grooves, but the production sometimes feels a little forced, and makes the whole thing sound a little sappy.

An interesting choice. I'm glad the list is not 100% English-centric, but it's hard to listen to this and "get it" as a non-Arabic speaker. The voice does sound familiar though. Really did not like the Beatles cover, but I'm guessing those who speak Arabic really appreciate it and maybe turned them onto the Beatles. 3* Cause I have no idea.

Caught myself dancing to the beat a couple times, but too much for me. Loud and distracting

i loved this album! obviously i couldn't understand a word of it, but the beats and instrumentals had me grooving the entire length of the album.

Her snakker vi katalog med størrelse... Uansett, forholdsvis spenstig cover av imagine :D Likte samarbeidet han hadde med Magic System da.

Hindi

I was wondering if this list was only going to recognize western/english speaking music, and I'm happy to see it doesn't! Now I'm assuming like the rest of you I did not derive the message from this album's lyrics but I certainly got a feeling. Khaled sounds like he has a lot of heart(C'Est La Nuit.) I wish I knew what this actual genre is called because calling non-english speaking music World Music seems like a cop out. You could definitely hear the western 90s pop vibes on a few of these songs though. "El Bab," which was probably my favorite on here, is so clearly a 90s summertime radio earworm. Definitely cool to explore another culture's music, but this album is not really something that stuck so I don't think I'll be giving it another listen.

3.5 - Draws from different strains of world music - Bollywood, Western inspired rock/pop, funk - while melding Arab influences. Funky, sophisticated. Cheesy at some points ("Imagine" cover) but I enjoyed listening.

Me gusta que sea radicalmente distinto a todos los discos que me han salido hasta ahora, pero es que además tiene TREMENDOS TEMAZOS. (eso sí, odio eterno a las versiones de Imagine. Nada justifica las versiones de Imagine).

Ok, but not in my wheelhouse. I really liked “Mele H’bibte” and “Derwiche Tourneur”. A lot of the tracks had too much brass instrument volume for my tastes. Good drums throughout. 2.5 stars. Roundup!

Different and interesting, probably won't listen again though

most were not available to listen to.

Interesting. It is quite okay to listen to, but There isn't anything which would touch me.

Gran disco de Raï, donde se fusiona este principalmente con pop clásico noventero. Suena atemporal.

Surprisingly listenable, nothing special, but good beats, good music

Habibi! Irgendwie geil, bis auf die zwei cheasy Coverversionen. Hab's zweimal gehört beim Badschrubben.

Really hard for me to judge this one. I'll say this: The musical styles are all over. I'm hearing Bollywood, north African, Indonesian, and even a little mariachi. I can see why it is on here, but I'm not listening to this again. 2.5 stars.

The album wasn't available, but there are a few singles I'll check out later.

Nueva experiencia

Pretty good. Wasn't a big fan of the first song, but the rest was enjoyable

gonna be interesting. reminds me of the music they play in middle eastern restaurants.

Algerian schlager lol. All the pieces are here - it's a mix of traditional and western sounds, there are dancy numbers, ballads, even some cheesy take on an English pop hit. I don't understand it so can't comment on the lyrics, but even without knowing what's being sung it screams "PG rating" (just like schlager music). Guess that's normal in a conservative country. Would go well at expo venues in the middle east after they run out of Yanni, lol. 78min was too long though. It's mostly the same kinda dance numbers that don't really do anything (again, schlager), and it felt pretty never-ending. I'm genuinely glad it's in here just to offset the 600 beatles, bowie and pink floyd albums, but I'm also pretty happy it isn't something I'm subjected to every day. 3/5 cause I can handle the novelty value as a once-off.

Not my jam but I can appreciate the quality

Straight forward pop. Ok, but not special.

Pretty enjoyable, a refreshing change from the usual 1001 stuff. Not sure about the 'imagine' cover though

2.7

Buen álbum, excepto la horrible versión que se incluye de "Imagine".

Pretty good. Liked the Imagine cover. Interesting music

Grand

An interesting mix of Arabian, French, and even English styles that makes for an overall engaging listen. The slower tracks drag a bit, but there’s enough energy and variety in the remaining tracks to keep one engaged.

A pleasant surprise. Some good bops on this album.

So many interesting and different sounds here. Appreciated the variety and the blend of genres and cultures throughout. It was cool hearing the different instruments and vocal style mixed with more western backing music. Not sure I'm racing back to it, but it was an interesting listen.

I can dig listening to this kind of thing well enough but I'm only getting so much out of it given relative ignorance of the culture and absolute ignorance of the language. Another full failure for YouTube Music, I pieced as much of it as I could together from individual tracks on compilations and such, the rest made up from YT videos with some truly heinous audio deficiencies suggesting multiple layers of badly managed piracy.

Middle of the road

3.7

The King of Rai, Khaled fuses influences from across the globe to showcase his powerful voice. At times the production is a little over polished and it feels like Khaled has chased the nineties studio sound rather than something more organic (would have loved less drum machine) and Imagine is questionable. Opener Aalach Tioumouni is a menacing banger and C’est La Nuit is a charming ballad.

Chill Arab music

Sounded nice. I do not speak that language so I can't say I agree or disagree with the lyrics message. Had an optimistic feel though...

Not bad, but I agree with whoever said he loses a star for Imagine. Also, YouTube wands this worse, but I can’t fault Khaled for that.

not my style at all, but I found that I did not turn it off either. Was nice in the background. C

A curious one this - every time I listen closely, I start to dislike it, but playing it in the background it really loved it. Sounds out of its time. Came out in 1999 but sounds like it's from 20 years before... And sometimes further. The cover of Imagine is a bit weird - I don't think you can sincerely cover that song any more. But I enjoyed it. A 3, but a very solid one.

suprisingly good, didnt expect so many modern influences in an arabic/french album. decent package overal

There's some bangers. And then there's a cover of Imagine.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Too long though. Would have been an easy 4 stars if some of the filler (especially the Imagine cover) had been cut.