Kenza

Not very interesting to me, sorry!

Instrumental is pretty good. Just not a big fan of the vocals

Presence on this list , imho, suggests one of three things: that an album is technically innovative, creatively imaginative, or simply capable of sparking joy in the heart of the listener. There isn’t anything wrong with Kenza. But, I fear, a rather anonymous piece of work. Nothing sharp, nothing new, indeed a little…boring, I suppose. (It might be that he is a magical presence on stage. Indeed, I can quite imagine this. But that’s a different matter altogether.)

I listened to the one song available on Spotify. I liked that it was different from my normal music, but not album im going to seek out elsewhere

Nice change of pace, but not something I will ever listen to ever again. "C'est la nuit" is a beautiful song.

The upbeat stuff was fun. That imagine cover though

Good singer, upbeat songs, instruments in the back are good just don’t understand the language so that disconnects me from it

I don’t understand why this is on the list. There must be better albums in arabic

meh, not really into this style of music. Not saying it's bad. I'm sure there are wide swathes of the world where this is the jam and more power to them.

I feel like I've heard this a lot in taxis when I was in the middle east in the early noughties. I didn't enjoy it then and I didn't enjoy it now - I think it also feels a bit tokenistic to just include a few random 'world music' albums in the 1001.

Jeg troede aldrig jeg skulle høre Imagine på arabisk. Man kan stadig overraskes. Dog overrasker det mig ikke at albummet her ikke fanger mig. Min musikalske opdragelse ligger udelukkende i vestligt funderede genre. Så de mellemøstlige tone på dette album gør ikke noget for mig. Det er ikke decideret frastødende. Det siger mig bare ikke noget.

How nice of them to choose Algerian music that is so influenced by Western Pop that it mostly sounds faceless.

not familiar with the genre and culture, seems generally harmless but dated

Only one song available on Spotify, but it was catchy. Not sure if a whole album would be my thing, though.

Não foi uma opção de fato interessante de música africana. Nem mesmo a versão de Imagine.

I had to listen to this on YouTube, which always starts me off on the wrong foot. There were a few cool songs on this album, but that Imagine cover was brutal.

I couldn’t find a complete edition of this Algerian music. Started off good with a traditional sounding song which was pretty cool but when it turned into a pip album It started to annoy me after the 4th song.

Leave off mate

Fun sounds

el Khaled bueno

Always loved this stuff in my younger years. Approachable but too polished. I like the old stuff

I like his voice and the music is varied and fun. Not going to be a staple in my shuffle, but a decently entertaining listen.

Not really my kind of album but I did like the cover of imagine.

Appreciate this is out of my comfort zone and frame of cultural reference. He does put a lot of energy into it and seems like it could be a good poppy album if I was more engaged. Imagine seems like a parody from a bad movie. 2

Didn't click with me.

This was ok. I appreciate world music but this one didn’t do a whole lot for me.

Not really for me. Some cooler disco sounding tracks, but not really my thing.

Khaled is most known for being a larger than life figure in the sphere of Rai music. For those who don't know, Rai music is a type of folk music that originated from Algeria in the early 1900s and became an outlet for political commentary and social commentary. These Rai artists rejected the traditional aspects and expectations of arab society. Lots of cool history with the music genre itself. As for this album, it's really more Rai-pop than pure Rai music. The instrumentals are very influenced by western genres that were popular at the time, such as hip-hop. It really takes away from the history and importance of Rai, and at this point just sounds dated. Oh, and that Imagine cover, oof.

Not really my thing.

A bit of a mixed bag. This started well, and some of the more traditional and soul-tinged tunes (such as El Bab) here are lovely. But that version of Imagine added nothing to what is already an over-wrought song. 2.5/5.

I've no reference points to evalauate this with. Which sounds incredibly cold. But as a standalone piece of work, it means very little to me. I had to bail at Imagine, a song I don't like at the best of times.

could i write poetry to this? n

I'll most likely never listen to it again, but it does the job it set out to do. I don't like his singing style, but that's a cultural difference. I liked the guest vocalists more. The strings are great throughout. Probably 100 options for a Britney Spears Toxic style bop for Max Martin to pick from.

Not on spotify- had to find a random version on youtube that I think was missing a track. Props to the book author for including a record like this in the listings, but I couldn't figure out why this particular record was included. It didn't feel unique to any of the other middle eastern music I've heard. Some cool musical ideas in tracks like c'est la nuit. I enjoy the middle eastern a-a-a-a-a thing I heard a bunch, but overall it kinda felt like a drag.

I don't subscribe to Spotify so it took some time to listen to the songs in order. I can't believe this is on here and zero Tool albums are. Regardless, I did find myself dancing a bit to these songs.

If I want to listen to this kind of music, and believe me, I really don't, then I just go for a haircut here in the UK - where all of the gents salons have this playing whilst the football highlights are running

I was hopping to discover this kind of music, enjoyed the first couple of songs but then it became absolutely repetitive to the point I didn't even finished the album.

I mean, the one song that was available to listen to felt nice. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pure pop is generally not my jam, and that holds here.

I am glad to have heard this, but I doubt I'd revisit it.

Listened Before? N Another one that's mostly not available on Spotify. I listened to the one song that WAS on there, and it's very interesting... I'll give it a bonus star. Added to Library? Can't Songs added to playlist: El Harba Wine

Very cheesy

This seems a little slickly produced and trying to bring in as wide an audience as possible. However, it was a great entry point for the artist and I have listened to his self titled album which seems more accomplished and exciting. I look forward to exploring his catalog and the Rai music genre.

Not a genre of music I've spent a huge amount of time listening to but honestly pretty good, I had no frame of reference on how good the vocals were but in the imagine cover they seemed on point. Lush strings, nice melodies, crisp percussion, the music puts you in a good mood. My biggest complaint would probably be that I felt like it stretched on too long. High 2.

Algerische Folk Musik, die von Kitsch "Imagine" bis Bollywood-artiger Musik reicht "Trigue Lycee"

It was okay, not really my bag

I only listened to one track. I can appreciate the style, but it’s not my particular style, nor do I care to listen to it.

I didn't hate it, it was just... different.

No pienso escucharlo entero.

A slog to be honest

The backing tracks are interesting. But quarter tone harmony gives me vertigo and this common mideastern vocal style sounds like someone complaining about something they ate while straining to push it out their arse.

Bletch. I would love to hear some actual Algerian or other middle eastern music. But this is just garbage pop sung in a style. And Imagine.... Jesus Christ what a bad version. I was wondering if he had the balls to say "No religion" and it appears he did that right... so. I don't know. There are moments on here that I like. The first track is actually really good. And some bits in the last 10% of the record are alright as well. But overall, this isn't good.

One of the reasons this list/website is cool is because you get to learn about albums that aren’t so well known. However, there comes a point where it becomes so difficult to find any version of the album that you wonder if maybe there’s a reason for that. Hidden gems aren’t hidden this well. I enjoyed the album. It wasn’t good, really. Whatever, I’m tired. 2/5

1999 год, национальная музыка. Я боялся что это будет DJ Khaleed. Но нет, это Халед Хадж Ибрагим. Я его знаю по песне "Аищя". Ну... Мне тяжело оценить. Верю, что это прорывные работы, как пишут в википедии, штуки, разрушающие устои ислама, потому порицаемые и осуждаемые. Но одно дело верить на слово и другое -- прочувствовать. Прочувствовать это я не могу в полной мере. Из-за манеры исполнения, из-за текста. Но это не один уже однозначно, слушается неплохо.

Impressions: Album was hard to find, listening on a YouTube playlist. I don’t know about this, it’s not in English, hard to judge. Favorite tracks: - Rating: 2/5

The interesting bits were too infrequent and not enough to carry the unwelcome pop-influenced stuff. What the hell was going on with that 'Imagine' cover?

I made it all the way through this one. Enough said.

Not something I'd actively seek out, but glad I listened. As an album, it's far too long, interesting mix of arabic rai with western pop, (obviously a Beatles fan), good start, lagging middle and picked up towards the end. 2.5

Ty Spotify for having this album

Nah. Better as a DJ.

not really for me?

Rijahd Gosling very nice instrumentals but I hated the vocals on every single track

It's kind of hard for me to rate this appropriately. This album is not available in the US and is hard to find. The best I could do was a playlist on YouTube, with videos mixed at different levels of differing lengths than the album tracks and interrupted every so often by ads. Tough to really get immersed in it.

It's alright, I guess. Just... kinda disappointing, really. The first several tracks promised something magical... and the rest of the album failed to deliver on that promise. It got progressively cheesier and lamer as the album went on. By the end I was so glad it was over.

Brani Preferiti: - "Gouloulha-Dji" Note: Non ho la minima idea sul come valutare questo album. Ho ascoltato molte canzoni arabe nella mia vita, ma questo è un genere tutto suo. Per il disco sono presenti dei momenti interessanti e generalmente parlando la base strumentale non è male.

Not available on apple music and only one song on Spotify. Sorry Khaled. Maybe in the future we will get, to quote a future namesake of yours, another one.

Always frustrating when we get an album that's not on Apple Music. Usually I take the time to piece it together from what releases do exist, but this one's really difficult to do since the titles are not in English. I listened to a different Kenza release from 1999 instead - I really don't know what kind of difference that makes, as the only noteworthy thing about this album on wikipedia is that it's included on this list. Not a good sign. Anyway the album I listened to had a couple cool tracks. It's a very specific style of music, apparently Algerian? I do like it, but a whole album length is a little tough for me. Getting this and the Shalimar soundtrack so close together really emphasize how hamstrung this listmaker was to pull in some international picks. Call of the Valley: incredible. These two: headscratchers to me. Favorite tracks: (can't pick any because I had to listen to a different album) Album art: Really like this shot a lot, makes me wish I had heard the right album because it just looks so cool. Guy is dressed like the '70s, in a car that's probably from the '70s too. I respect it. 2.5/5

Meh, the cover of imagine killed any hope I had for this album,

Spotify only had one song: "El Harba Wine". I'd characterize it as Middle Eastern Pop. It was nothing special so I am not going to chase down the other songs on YouTube or wherever. Not my thing but the guy can sing though so bonus point.

Some of the music was really good. Singing at times sounded like someone with low fiber diet on the toilet.

Never got to the point where I wanted to turn it off, but never really clicked either. Not the worst thing we've listened to but I'll never put it on again.

Leuk hor, dat raï. Maar als je aan Lennon komt en Imagine zo verkracht...

Aan energie ontbreekt het niet bij Khaled! Maar na een nummertje of 5 heb ik het wel een beetje gehoord. En als er dan ook nog een mierzoete versie van Imagine tegenaan gegooid wordt dan zit ik echt aan mn tax.

Ik vond dit kostelijk.

Not my cup of tea.

Not for me, this. Trigue Lycee was a pleasant enough listen, but none of the rest really stood out. Apart from the cover of Imagine, that was really, really painful. 2/5, Imagine nearly dragged it down to a 1 though.

# 55 : what? Who? Why? - 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. A nice change of pace from some of the other albums we have heard so far.

It's cool to get an Algerian album but I really wasn't a fan for 90% of it. The first couple of tracks leading up to the imagine cover sucked and then it wasn't terrible for a little bit but then I just got sick of it after about 45 minutes. Combined with how much of a pain in the ass it was to listen to this album even on YouTube, this album is lucky to get a 2.

This was one is weird to rate. Did I enjoy it? Somewhat. Was it a bit long for what it was? Yes, but there was good variation. Does it need to be included on this list? Absolutely not. This author is a hack. Was it easy/fun to find? No, I did not enjoy playing Frankensteining this album together just to listen to it.

ummmm

This was difficult to find. What the hell does legendary guitarist Steve Hillage have to do with this? Bizarre.

Fave tracks: El Harba Wine, E’Dir E’Sseba, raba raba,derwich tourbeur ,leili Just not my thing at all 2/5

An easygoing album held back by my inability to understand the lyrics.

Really varied, and such hard to rate. Some of it was far too soft for my ears. Some decent tunes in there. Having Arab music on the radio frequently for the past 8 years had led to me being a bit over the stylings in general. Mele habiti is pretty decent though.

Interesting had no idea what they were saying but the music was enjoyable. Spotify limited me to only one track.

Only one song from this album was available on Spotify. I listened to it and a few of the top 5 that were available and it was definitely not my thing

I wanted to like it but the production and Polish just aren’t my taste

I dunno man, maybe it’s cultural bias or straight up xenophobia but I find his guttural tone so harsh and ugly. I don’t mind a lot of the production, I enjoyed C’est la Nuit and I think Imagine works. But the meat of this 2 hour album is unpleasant for me.

osea supongo que saber que esto existe me sirve,,, 6/10

First, I have to ask the editors here: of all the many millions of non English speaking albums out there, why is it, exactly, that you picked this one over everything else? As to the album at hand, the music is not too bad but it’s at more or less the quality of a middle eastern wedding soundtrack. Entertaining, to one extent or another, but that’s more or less it.

Well, it's pretty easy listening global pop, interesting to hear how Western textures and music programming infiltrate other genres. An inexplicable cover of Imagine however downgrades this from a three to a two.

I respect that this may be pretty progressive for it’s fine and place of release, but it didn’t really do it for me.

E’Dir E’Ssba is a jam despite what the critics say.

I didn’t hate this, but I couldn’t say I really enjoyed it either.

I didn't expect an Algerian disco on this list! I think it is fair to include it in here, especially with how popular Khaled is among the french/arabic speaking population (which in itself is pretty huge). Unfortunately, as a person from a different culture (especially in a musical way) I had a hard time enjoying this album. I'm not a fan of nineties disco or pop, and mixing it with a style so foreign for me just makes it too much of a leap in one go. I truly believe Khaled is a great singer and writer, but I think he would understand that's his music was not targeted at an audience like me.

wel van genoten, kon elk nummer wel waarderen, maar niets sprong eruit voor mij

Ik was heel blij om weer eens een keer iets anders te moeten luisteren, maar vond dit nog best wel tegenvallen. Al helemaal toen er ineens een cover van Imagine kwam?? Verder sommige nummers echt wel lekkere stukjes ertussen maar las ook een review dat het soms een plaat lijkt voor taxi-chauffeurs en dat snap ik dan ergens ook wel weer. 2,5

This Khaled album is hard to find. Good beats and production.

Someone loves this. Good for them.

Pretty generic and… elevatory…

Hard to understand the context, musically...okay, hate the imagine cover

Had a real hard time finding this in the US. As of Jan 2023, it's not on Apple Music, Spotify, or Youtube Music. Finally found some sketchy Youtube playlist, but the titles seem to match up to the Wikipedia track list. Youtube playlist is: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1SZ9eAdf-J0VtCX71kBZwSpDw5jBIYN With that out of the way, really interesting album. Not my preferred style at all, but I found my toe tapping more than a few times. Worth a listen. But seriously, Imagine? Ugh.

An hour and eighteen minutes? I don't even want to listen to english language popular rock records for that long! Please, keep it to a tight 45 people. Who even has time for continuous listening longer than that? I mean, it's just not for me. I don't speak the language, and I'm a lyrics first listener. There's nothing here for me. The music is peppy though, I'll give it that. And dude got himself a dope album cover.

i wanted to like this sooo bad. but it kept doing one eighties! why whitney houston in india next to paul oakenfold lite next to a daft punk song next to a literal “imagine” by oakenfold? cohesion, my dude! sad.

DJ KHALED!!!! Another one!

Not for me

No pienso escucharlo entero.

I went into this with an open mind, wanting to enjoy something new but it just didn't gel. It didn't feel like an album, no connection so, sorry, it's a no from me.

Not my bag.

It all went downhill after track 1. The cover of ‘Imagine’ was pretty torturous. I imagined if was there was a world where it didn’t exist.

hard to have an opinion on this. nice to have a bit of world music, but it's not something i'd listen to again.

A couple of good songs but not something I’ll return to

E'Dir E'Sseba is a funky tune.

Arabische muziek. Niet zo mijn ding, maar wel leuk voor een keertje. Vooral de zangeres op sommige nummers en de poppie melodie van weer anderen. Helaas irriteert de Arabische spraakklank me teveel om het echt hoog te beoordelen. **

Dne on apple music :( unproductive at work and kinda weird vibes eating wise, but productive in home with laundry mail cleaning. Then killed at kickball but had a decent time

Arabic music? Well, it was much better than I expected. I’m glad I got to hear it. 2.5 / 5

Nope.

This was a pain to find to listen to, but that's not the artists fault. I didn't care for this much, but I didn't hate it. It had its moments but this is a genre I'm quite unfamiliar with, and in all honesty, will probably never get into. Perhaps this is a great for fans of the genre? I'll pass.

Interesting. I couldn't find the album on Spotify so I had to go with a Youtube playlist of the album and it sounded like it was mostly covers of other songs. Not sure if the songs I listened to were really a part of the album who knows.

Interesting to hear something completely unexpected, but I struggled to connect with it.

I'll give him this: His cover of Imagine is miles better than Gal Gadot's.

No clue what is being said. The sound is unique to my ears and sometimes catchy. Still not my thing though.

Es entretenido exponerse a música de otras culturas y oír los puntos en común. No es algo que volvería a escuchar, pero no estuvo mal

Not my thing but I could appreciate it. Too long

Not really my thing but it wasn’t an unpleasant listen

Good fun listen, man this dude is prolific!

Not for me.

Positiivinen ylläri et listalla on muitakin kuin vaan länsimaisia esittäjiä. Ihan hauskaa meininkiä, mut ei tätä toiste varmaan kuuntele.

Kind of odd, I guess not the sort of music I listen to usually. Some bits were nice.

No pienso escucharlo entero.

interesting percussion with heavy drums that seem to have a hip-hop influence. there's even some record scratching on "el bab"? great strings, many sharp stabbing runs and riffs. vocal melodies are good (especially second and final tracks) although blur together across the songs - perhaps exacerbated by language barrier. first track is great, "el aadyene" is funky, sounds like a mix of classic parliament and third wave ska. skipped the "imagine" cover. probably won't return for another listen: sits in an awkward position between being too familiar in it's western influence to be interesting from a world-music perspective, while the language barrier itself creates a disconnect that prevents it being simple "easy-listening" music.

Compared to the other offerings that are 'World Music' on this list - this is pretty bad. Probably great if you're Algerian. I'm not. Best Tracks: El Harba Wine; Trigue Lycee; Melha

I really like the timbre of Khaled's voice but two things really let this down - cheap-sounding production and a lack of memorable songs. A more sympathetic backing would elevate this more than exponentially. Perfectly listenable, but not my cup of mud, brutha.

The album is long. It is in a completely different language, Arabic, I think. The music itself sounded like pop music and it was upbeat. The version of Imagine was interesting and unexpected. I don't think I will be revisiting this album.

Stand out track - C’Est La Nuit

When this started I didn't think I would get through 1hr20mins of it. Rai is not a style of music that I particularly enjoy. If all 15 songs had sounded like the first then I would have definitely struggled. Luckily there was enough variation. The version of Imagine didn't work.

Oh good, I thought after the first track - bangra. I like bangra. But no, it got softer and softer until we get to an execrable version of Imagine. I won't be listening to any more of that.

Melha Arabic's has just arrived here. It’s kind of rare to see those kinds of albums on the list. Classifying types of different genres is always not an easy quest. Unlikely the cover there in the middle “Imagine”, calls your attention immediately when you first listen to the introduction. D

Ritmos y melodías árabes. Buena voz y melodías tranquilas. No me ha transmitido demasiado

omfg. 2?

I’m surprised an album that made 1001 albums would be so hard to find. Not available at all on Apple Music, and the YouTube link was to some random user’s video playlist. I guess the music was fine, but kind of a head scratcher on why this was included.

Not great rai. Rather inspid.

okay, the production is great, but it´s not for me and hard to listen to. Hard to rate, but it´s not total crap either.

I can't be the only person who said, "What the fuck is this?" when it popped up. I was disappointed that it was not on Spotify, so I had to listen to music on YouTube (yuck). It's not the best quality, but I am committed to not skipping any albums on this list. Anyway, first impressions... it kinda slaps, but I find it very irritating at times. The tracks are way too long. It starts off pretty fun, but the charm wears off very quickly. There are some enjoyable moments during these songs, but it's not enough to save this album as a whole. Not much else to say really, it speaks for itself. I have zero familiarity with this type of music anyway, so my opinion doesn't carry a lot of weight. Also, the "Imagine" cover is not that bad.

Läuft als Begleitmusik so durch.

Wasnt gone on it.

Starts off pretty good, but after the ill-advised cover of Imagine, it never really recovers.

Insallah

This album isn't on Spotify (minus El Harba Wine, banger) so I listened to a compilation someone made on YouTube - not an ideal or really even fair listening experience, but I figured no use in skipping this just to come back another time for the same thing. Enjoyable, unique, something I would never listen to if it wasn't for this site, but also nothing I'd likely come back to Already Saved: El Harba Wine*

No me gustó, se me hizo igual todo el álbum

Best Algerian cover of Imagine I’ve ever heard

Tat nicht weh, hat mich leider aber auch gar nicht berührt - bislang ist Rai offenbar nicht meine Musik. 1,9

What a great singer. He incorporates elements of pop and funk here and there which appeals with me alot more than other Arabic music I've heard. Nevertheless, this genre isn't for me. Half the album was forgettable, and the pop/funk sound was the only thing that kept me interested.

The opening song was great... and nothing else lived up to it (but a few at the end). Wasn't expecting that surprise John Lennon cover though lol.

Endlich Mal etwas anderes für die Ohren. Trotzdem keine höhere Bewertung. Es fehlt Aicha auf dem Album.

Not my thing

هذا ليس شيئًا لكني أطلب منك أن تضع في اعتبارك أنني أملك الألبوم الثاني لفرقة الراب outkast Although the version of imagine is tremendous 😂

First track started promisingly but quickly descended to warbly dross.

نغمة واحدة أو اثنتين جيدة

Had to turn it off

Background listenable (due to not knowing the multiple languages involved), but relatively bloated. Cool sound though, and liked each song individually, but as a project I would say this could of been shrunk down.

Conocía algunas canciones como Cheb Kheled pero nunca había escuchado un disco entero. La verdad es que nada más empezar sorprende la calidad del sonido. El disco es muy variado y en general no me ha gustado. Algunas de las canciones más étnicas son las que me han parecido más interesantes: El harba wine, Mele H'Bibti y Derwiche tourneur. Las canciones famosas de este disco C'est la nuit y Trigue Lycee no eran lo que esperaba. Se puede escuchar como curiosidad pero no es un disco al que volveré.

They lost me at Imagine

Wasn't for me

Not on Spotify and had to listen on Youtube which added a little frustration to my listening experience. This album is kind of all over the place sound-wise. The Imagine cover surprised me and I did not like it. Can't say I really enjoyed the rest of the album either.

Very interesting, not my style though

Pop de Medio Oriente? No

1 - TERRIBLE

Estuve todo el disco dudando si era DJ Khaled antes de ser DJ. También creo que podía morir sin escuchar este album.

Oh, no thank you. This is not for me. Good luck with all your endeavors, sir.

I can't do it .. I tried, honest I did

Zuhause, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Gar nicht meins.

😴

No es mi estilo, tampoco me parece gran cosa. La versión de Imagine prescindible y olvidable.

First álbum that I can’t finished. Listen one song is good, two are the limit…..

WTF?

Nicht mein Genre!

Not for me, and I generally like French lyrics.

Not my kind of thing but at least it's nice and long :(

Уберите это

A lesson to us all. When you open the car door, look behind for cyclists.

Ugh, one vocal note in and I can tell where this is going. I’m not one for whiney sounding vocals and this is like a dying dog killing a rabbit that’s screaming while it scrapes its teeth on a chalk board. Pass. Hard pass.

One of those corny, watered down attempts to “reach new audiences” but end up really unengaging. The cover of Imagine is painful.

"Great" I thought, "something out of the ordinary, that's what the generator is all about". I was coping with Khaled okay until I got to Imagine. Dreadful cover of a dreadful song.

😵‍💫

This is painfully mediocre. It's a very bad thing, because it's soooo looooong. As someone who comes from the middle east this sound is nothing new to me. I don't find anything authentic or interesting about it. The vocals are fine but not at all special, and the production is so lazy and lifeless. And will it ever end? To be honest, it's not all that bad. Track 11 for example has nice energy and instrumentation. But the fact that I know that I have 4 more songs after it doesn't really help me to enjoy it in any way. Yeah, I'm loosing it. But today I decided I am going to finish this thing- it's the only thing that will make it a legitimate thing to loose 78 minutes of my life for this thing.

Hell no. This is what my taxi driver listens to. Why is this an album I must hear?

I couldn't finish this album

did not listen

Best Song: Melha I saw someone on the 1001 list say that this reminded them of restaurant music and I have to agree, makes me want a lamb kebab. Anyway, this is the "king of Rai" and if you don't know what that is, neither do it. It is a description of Arabian folk which, unless Arabian music considers folk different than I, this doesn't really fit that bill - this is more pop/dance than folk, in my opinion. Anyway, I wanted to go outside my comfort zone and this did it. However, maybe it went a bit too far as I would never listen to this again unless I was making kebab's at home and wanted to be more authentic. Not my thing. 1/5.

1+ Stars (3/15)

Khaled – Kenza Kenza is an ambitious exhibition of global fusion, but one that ultimately felt "overwhelming" and inaccessible. While the production is clearly layered with complex instrumentation and powerful vocal delivery, the lack of a personal connection to the Raï style made it a difficult "body of work" to fully engage with. While it’s an interesting cultural detour in the 1001 list, it didn't resonate with the same "rock" or "hip-hop" energy of previous days. A neutral experience that serves as a reminder that even immaculate talent doesn't always translate across every listener’s taste.But yoo I, at least I got to hear it 🤷‍♂️

1. aalach - 1.5 2. uuine - 1 3. nuit - 0 4. imagine - 0 5. lycee - 1 6. zeba - 0 7. ya - 1 8. melha - 1.5 9. raba - 1.5 10. Bab -1 11. DENE - 1 12. IDJI - 0 13. Mele - 2 14. Tourner - 1 15. Leili - 1

520/1001

bruh this ain't my shit at all lol

ainda na segunda música, tô gostando do ritmo mesmo não entendo nada.. Não tava esperando uma música em francês ... Gostei mais das duas primeiras músicas, o resto do álbum é bom mas nada demais

Это просто не моя музыка. Лучшая песня - Ya Aachkou.

I didn't know Khaled before this adventure; he has sold +80M albums worldwide, I should have heard of him! I was excited to dive into a new adventure. It's fecking awful. The low point was the cover of Lennon's 'Imagine', but I soldiered on through nearly an hour and a half of this pageant (I'm committed). I couldn't figure out how this guy sold so many albums; there had to be more to him -- turns out there is. According to besteveralbums.com 'Kenza' is rated 22,902 (21,901 albums to hear before you die are ahead of this one). He has a live album, 'Hafla', 11,388 places earlier on that same list; that's 31 years of this! Why wasn't that the recommendation? Well, I'm listening to 'Hafla' now, and it's excellent. It's intoxicating; the live energy transports me into the middle of a celebration. I want to be part of that scene. I understand why Khaled is so popular now.

Is this some sort of joke, top 1000? Enjoyed some of the instrumentals and beats like Imagine. Oh thats right not his music. C’est La Nuit was the only other song I could tolerate. Once he started singing it’s a No Thank You, for me.

Ummmmm. Nope

Made the list of 1001 albums that should be tossed in the trash.

rhythmic, but hard to have on (turned low it is ok as background music I ignore).

Just not my taste

Not something I would listen to really. 1/5

Artiste inconnu. Original par rapport à ce que j'écoute habituellement, mais beaucoup trop long et lassant quand la découverte s'estompe. Je n'ai pas pu aller au bout. =>1/5

Bem tosco, e não digo isso por conta do idioma. Não ligo pra música estrangeira, tenho a mente aberta quanto a isso. Mas não tenho mente aberta quanto a música brega, esdrúxula, tosca, com vibe de karaokê com aquele tio e aquela prima bêbados. E pra piorar a comparação com um karaokê meia-boca, o cara ainda teve a pachorra de colocar um cover de Imagine no seu disco! Que absurdo… “and no religion too” vindo de um muçulmano! Chega ser hilário. Não é à toa que ao pesquisar o nome dele rapidamente vi que muitos islâmicos querem sua cabeça! O que não é hilário é que esse projeto fez eu gastar 1 hora do meu sábado ouvindo esse álbum. Isso não tem graça nenhuma. Nas horas que ele emprega uma instrumentalização mais tradicional, como na canção Trigue Lycee, o álbum até passa a ser mais agradável. Mas na maioria das canções aqui, o artista decide diluir a tradição com um pop bem deslocado, uma mescla de gêneros. E a música aguada e diluída não me desce. Vou fazer uma analogia, sabe quando você era criança e queria brincar de cientista, e então pegava todos os líquidos da casa (detergente, pasta de dente, sabonete líquido, óleo de soja, etc) e misturava em um frasco, ou copo? O resultado era sempre aquela substância escura, cinza, esfumaçada, viscosa e absolutamente nojenta. Isso é esse disco. É louvável a variedade musical apresentada aqui? O casamento de tantos gêneros e influências ocidentais? Claro, pô, não serei hipócrita, isso é algo que eu verdadeiramente aprecio neste disco… Mas eu preferiria um álbum mais coeso e conciso de Rai tradicional com vocais bem empregados e – mais importante de tudo – com uma duração mais manuseável. Não foi isso que o artista fez e não foi isso que eu ouvi, mas poderia ter sido bem pior. 1.5/5

Background music in a Middle Eastern restaurant. Rubbish.

Who knew Arabic music could be so dynamite? I had a blast listening to it. The track "El Harba Wine" is the bomb. Ethnic music blah

Eventually put it on in the evening...and it's basically crap. I think it might be worse than that though...the most charitable reading is that one of the list's curators is just a personal fan of this mediocre Afro pop album. Unfortunately, what is more likely is that it's a misdirected attempt to make the list a bit more exotic. However, when you could pick other, far superior, Algerian acts such as Tinariwen or Imarhan but pick this trash instead, your tokenism is laid bare. It's a bit like wanting to include a Welsh album but picking Stereophonics over SFA, Manics or Mclusky.

Boring

A nice change of pace but it loses a star for covering Imagine and gains one for not being in English. Didn’t enjoy.

Nie słuchałbym

Absolutely not.

Ik ken Khaled enkel van C'est La Vie, maar ik vond ook wel dat het daar mocht blijven. 1.3

Didn’t like

Mid asf

Not in the mood for this.

Uh Algerian pop music? Why tf is this on this list???

I got as far as the Imagine cover and then decided none of this was for me. I was into the first song that had the Arabic sounds to it. But then it turned to boring soft rock.

Didn't sound great on the train tbh. But there was a child crying, think I must have nodded off and had a bad dream.

Made it to Imagine.

It’s fine, not for me

No thanks

Иногда проскакивают элементы нормальной музыки, чего нельзя сказать про вокал

Couldn't get into it

Not my style or language. Really bad

Gear: ZMF Bokeh Artwork: 🧔‍♂️🤵‍♂️🚗 Production: 🙄🤔🤷 Music: 🎤⚠️😖 Rating: 🪔/5

Album not available in spotify

Sikkert fett hvis du e fra Algeria, men føle denna har komt til feil publikum. Synd, for tror da finnes bedre arabisk musikk der ute. Og Imagine-coveren va ganske fæl

Not my cup of tea.

Maybe it's a cultural thing. Awful. Like a dismal X-factor reject.

Not on spotify, listened to the first song on youtube, dont think im missing much

Not available

Listen to about half of it, not my thing. But it’s all right, 1/5

While some songs have catchy rhythms to them I just can't get in to it at all. While I listened through all the songs I think the singing being in a language very different from mine made it a bit less enjoyable. To me the singing wasn't on beat and very harsh in songs where it didn't fit at all.

Honestly, couldn't get through it. 1/5

No va

Tracks I've liked at least instrumentally 1,2,5, 11 won me back after a long time of midtempo tracks there are songs where the rip of the audio skips, but thats on the ripper itself not the artist will I listen to this album after this review? most likely not... I would erase the Imagine cover, way too long too. 3/10

Het is niet dramatisch, maar ik kan er echt niet naar luisteren

Algerian shit

Could not Stream it.

Not my taste

I've usually loved the world music this project has introduced me to, especially African albums. But this totally sucked ass. I was having a very stressful time with a bicycle when I was listening to it, but it was still so absolutely incredibly awful and irritating.

uh..just not for me.

arabic music - not my style

(Big eye roll) the Imagine cover mostly blew it. I have to “imagine” there is better world music than this.

Ist nicht so mein Ding!

This is the 56th album I’m rating. Back to back live albums is terrible. Especially when they are this long. Adding to my Playlist - El Harba Wine, C’est la Nuit, Imagine, Trigue Lycee, E’dir E’sseba, El Bab, and Deurwiche Tourneur. Not Adding to my Playlist - Aâlach Tloumouni, Ya Aâchkou, Melha, Raba Raba, El Aâdyene, Gouloulha Dji, Mele H’biti, and Leïli. All in all I liked 7/15 songs. This album was too bloated and could’ve been cut by 25 minutes without problems. Also, I lost my full review while writing this.

Raï music isn't really my taste.

I enjoy the artistry, but this is not for me.

I’ve been meaning to get into DJ Khaled’s early work. The man before all the winning. Before the apparent brain injury. He appears to be getting out of his car here to gaze back at the accident he inadvertently caused while filming a TikTok about sandwiches whilst driving. A trail of bodies is sure to follow the big winner. For those interested, I know that this isn’t DJ Khaled. What I don’t know, is what this will be. Spin the wheel K man. Oh hell yeah pal. That smooth horn coming in over the top. A lot of bombast to start which can be off-putting, but the middle eastern instruments and vocals go pretty hard. Man this thing is pretty cool. So different to what I’m used to and a haunting song. Oh no. We don’t need to go off a cliff this fast. FUCK I thought that was him hitting that falsetto. Had to check the feature to find it was a female vocalist. Initially thought this was a “Gimme the Loot” scenario. I wish it was at this point because this is an awful song. Algerian 80’s prom music hit hard in 1999. It is the night where I realize that there is more than an hour left with Khaled. Whatever deity we’re going for here. May they guide my voyage with minimal trauma. Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colours” played in the clubs of Algiers? Off to a bad start. We’re doing “Imagine?” Christ. I am so bad with different languages (not great with English either) but I can’t even figure out which word is “Imagine.” This is NOT for me. This song has a nice message, but between that COVID celebrity cover and the general overplaying over the past half-century, I just don’t care. Starsky & Hutch’s Algerian equivalent Mahmoud & Zayd. Who will play “Huggy Bear??” Yeah so this is an extended 70’s TV opener and it is ten thumbs down. Back to the discotheque. Although it seems like a club on maybe a Tuesday evening. Late. Somebody is sweeping. There are a few desperately lonely regulars looking for the bottom of their drink. When the weird DJ scratching part comes on, that’s last call. For the bar, and potentially this album. The final minute plays until power is shut off. Early. It’s been a difficult year. It seems like nobody wants to party anymore. The thought fades with the final riverboat piano riff and into the warm Algiers eve. What can I even say about this? The bass is growling pretty good underneath, but man this just isn’t for me. I can say it a thousand ways but the bombast and pop sensibilities just suck. Too many instruments that don’t fit. The guitar and woodwind (?) solos near the end ain’t half bad, but the return to the dumb clap stomp chorus is where I seek the skip button. Never to be found, as I am a completionist. UGHHHHHHHHH. Terrible. Terriblé, if you will. These are certainly running together for me. This one is giving a Las Vegas vibe near the end. Or at the very least, Señor Burns. El Bab. The Bab?? See I know Spanish. No. It’s the most current thing on here. To 1999 that is. Obviously. Anyway. God, this sucks. I am so incredibly bored. Numb at this point. Why, you may wonder. Well, the same vocal tone for starters. Seemingly the same inflections and it begins to become grating. I have the disadvantage of not being able to understand the lyrics and the horns are so obnoxious. That’s a start. Whoa. Stand-up bass highlighted. A little too marimba-y. Noooo. We were in the pocket. Now we’re back. I can’t do this, man. Painful. Is this the jingle that the channel “Showcase” uses? Perhaps before episodes of Trailer Park Boys? Why does every song need to be interminable? That’s the real question. I forget that I’m on the same one half the time. Arena hype music. THIS POWERPLAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ALGERIAN TOURISM BOARD AND OF COURSE, BY EAST SIDE ABDUL’S. PIZZA HAS NEVER BEEN SO HALAL. This sucks. Oh good. An Arabic version of C’est La Nuit. We need to hear that “It’s Nighttime” in every language on earth. Let’s do it Khaled. Start learning Swahili brother. This was a slog. A collection of relics from the 70’s mixed with more artifacts thankfully left un-excavated by much of the music I consume regularly. The same tones, the same horns ad nauseam for what feels like an eternity. An album written for others and that’s the worst way to approach music creation. I am once again ensnared in the purgatorial mire fiendishly concocted by the nerd or nerds responsible for assembling this hellish list. I looked it up. This is Khaled’s TWENTIETH album. What in the sweet hell are we doing? Even RYM hates it. This is a personal pick based on some dumb spiritual retreat trip where he had a layover in Algiers or something. An album that started with a bang and could’ve very easily ended with several more bangs as I discharge a firearm into the device that played this thing. Thankfully I don’t own firearms, but I do own two ears and a supposedly functioning brain, making “Kenza” an arduous trudge that leaves me limping into Wednesday. Bottom of the proverbial barrel and top of the steaming heap. May my journey be eased through the rest of the week. 0-0.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Aalach Tloumouni (Alimony???*GULP* Errrrm, better call my lawyer??)

Fun music but it gets incredibly repetitive after a while. The record feels way too long

This was heavy. After amusement it has just heavy and showed how little one can understand.

I'm culturally, and by a language barrier, unable to rate this album. Tonally it seems like very basic arabic pop music, production also seems nice, but other than that it offers nothing for me. I don't understand why they would want to re-record Lennon's Imagine nearly 30 years later tho.

Very hard to track these songs down, but the ones I found were not very memorable.

Not for me

I'd like to pretend I'm cultured and that I enjoyed it but truthfully I kept checking to see how much time was left because I wanted to turn it off.

Call me uncultured swine but this ain't for me. The 'Imagine' cover was kinda cool to hear in a different language tho

Not my tempo at all, and then he started singing Imagine and I bailed - unforgiveable.

One of the hardest albums so far, it couldn't have been over sooner.

Not listening to this whole thing sorry?

What even is 'world' music? Would this be considered world in its country of origin? I don't know. What I do know is this album is an odd duck, and I don't really want anything to do with it.

Got to the Imagine cover and just could not continue

Not for me, It sounds like the sound track to Aladdin 2!! I did enjoy some of the music and I appreciate the change in vibe and being taken out of the comfort zone but I won’t be listening to this again. Favourite song: Aalach Tloumouni Least favourite: The rest of the album Album artwork: Not one I will be hanging up at home

Couldn’t listen to it.

At least now I have an opinion about Algerian music

No songs were available to actually listen to.

album doesn't exist bruh lmfao

Painful. Imagine was appalling.

– Mom, can we buy oriental music? – We have oriental music at home, my dear. Sikerült belepasszintani az összes létező sztereotípiát, ami a kétezres évek játékainak sivatagipálya-zenéit képviseli. Seth Everman mind a húsz (!) ujját megnyalná utána! Igen, az első két számot visítva végigröhögtem, és letekertem a hangerőt, mert ennyire még a maxon bömböltetett hentait sem szégyellném a szomszédok előtt, mint ezt. Aztán megérkezett a wishes Imagine, meg az aliexpresses sanzon (ráadásul KÉTSZER IS!!!!). Nem tudom, ki adott erre engedélyt anno. Én legfeljebb kilövési engedélyt adnék rá. A második fele viselhetőbb, de nem jobb, és nem menti meg még az akár korabeli mildly hard dubstepként induló Derwiche Tourneur sem. Kérlek, algoritmus, kíméld az idegeimet.

Algerian folk music (rai) over a hip hop/dance beat. Honestly, this could be worse. And now it is. El Harba Wine's background music is from a cheesy 80s music, and not a good one. This is like what you'd expect to play over the Algerian dub of Teen Titans Go! in place of The Night Begins to Shine. I guess some of this is in French. The musical styles of the first three songs are all wildly different, this feels more like a greatest hits album as there's very little cohesion between the songs musically. Cover of John Lennon's Imagine is recognizable and awful. Much like modern Western music has been greatly influenced by the history of sacred music, a lot of this sounds like calls to prayer. English lyrics! The guest singer, Noa, does not have a strong voice. It's not helping that this is unavailable through Spotify. You can't even find E'dir E'sseba anywhere to listen to. The music from this is all over the place, pick a style and stick with it. This should only be on a list of 1,001 albums if they are albums from Algeria specifically. Ok, El Bab has something going on, massive improvement but again, no connection to the rest of the album. It feels like every musical style included in this album, and there are MANY, is from the 80s...maybe Algerian music is 25 years behind America.....so maybe the great Algerian Britney/Christina debate is happening right now. I'm counting the minutes until this is over. Mele H'bibti could be the music from a terrorism action movie sequence, Algeria or Paris based....Jason Bourne driving a car through the streets of Casablanca. It must be exhausting having to be this pretentious all the time for music critics. No one should need to feel like they need to impress people they will never meet this much.

One of the selling points and pleasures of subscribing to Tidal and Roon is the automated playlists generated which are based on your listening tastes. So this was another occasion I had to find a secluded corner of my home (don’t want the family to think I enjoy this stuff) and listen on another streaming service where I’m not bothered too much about what the algorithm thinks I like. It was a very quick visit. Whilst I appreciate this list has to include every form of music it is nevertheless still dominated by westernised music. To dip occasionally and feature albums such as this is nothing more than tick boxing. There may be an argument for a list to reflect every type of world music and that the albums featured, many many more than 1001, are evenly distributed in the list. If this is a list of modern western music from the 1950’s onwards so keep it as such. 1/5 29/8/24

Not my type

Imagine a better album

Sounds like noise to me... and not the good kind

I had to go to YouTube to find it. He may be the Algerian sensation - but I wasn’t feeling it. But I have to admit I was surprised by the Imagine cover. Not necessarily in a good way. Just surprised.

Somewhere between not very good and not my type of tunes.

Horrible week of selections ended with a clunker

I can’t shake the feeling I’m being tricked into listening to the Algerian Gary Barlow.

I tried. Listened to the whole thing. Read up on the guy, and okay, seems like this isn't a total asspull addition to the list, but Jesus fucking Christ. No. I'm sure it goes reasonably hard on a trip to the Sahara or something, but I live in the mountains, man. I feel like a white woman going to a Mexican restaurant and saying 'Konnichiwa" to the waitress. Vibes are off. Can't do it.

I can't say if this is good or bad, but I can say it's not for me...

That's not music for me. I'd rather listen to hip hop, which I don't like at all. I've heard enough of this music blaring out of the open windows of our little oriental friends' overpowered cars. 1/5

El harba wine, best 4 min 34 seconds of my life, is the only song playable on spotify

🐶

Where the heck is Aicha?

I wish music could be uninvented.

Nope. Kinda like the music, but - not his singing.

I listened to maybe 4 songs of this on YouTube before I gave up. I know others have had a hard time finding this album too. I'm not entirely sure why that is. What I heard sounded like contemporary middle eastern music and it wasn't bad but it's definitely not something I'm going to seek out.

I do not understand the inclusion of this album on the list. A rare miss when venturing outside of the Western hemisphere.

no.

Åhh.. Mine vestlige øre har svært ved det her. Det bliver ikke mindre forvirrende at hverken cover, eller fransk..

There are great arabic artists and albums out there and they still found a way to add this crap to the list. Incredible.

Why are so many of the world music albums on this list albums that try to incorporate so much influence from western music. I wanna hear the actual world music, not some dumbed down westernified stuff.

- Spoiler: nicht gerade für Workouts geeignet (imo) - okay-ish würde ich aber glaube ich nicht wieder hören

Trash, the sorta music you hear in a NYC cab

I hated it. I really don’t care for this style/genre/microtonal singing

Minus minus minus

Terrible.

Call me uncultured swine, but I really can’t get much into this at all. 1.5/5