Algeria: a shower of tributes to the Kabyle singer Idir

Text by: RFI Follow

Idir was presented as an ambassador for Kabyle music. He was a lover of the mixture of cultures. The singer Idir died on Saturday May 2, in Paris, at the age of 70, died of a lung disease. His death drew many tributes.

Publicity

"   I learned with immense sadness the news of the death of Idir, an icon of Algerian art  ", can be read in a tweet from the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

For his part, Youcef Aouchiche, president of the Departmental People's Assembly of Tizi Ouzou, native region of Idir, for his part greeted a singer who “will  continue to illuminate the Algerian artistic sky (…) with his music and his beautiful words  ”.

In France, Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, also paid tribute to the artist. "  His humanist commitment, his commitment to Kabyle culture will remain in our hearts. Her magnificent voice will resonate for a long time at the Town Hall, where so often we have celebrated the Berber New Year together  , ”she said on Twitter.

Idir never stopped sharing Amazigh music. He has recorded many duets with singers from different horizons such as Geoffrey Oryema, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Grand Corps Malade or Maxime le Forestier who paid tribute to him on RFI.

"  When we did duets with Idir ... We did two. The first was San Francisco which Brahim Izir had translated and it was called "Tizi Ouzou". And for his Identities album, Idir asked me to come and sing as a duet. I said: I agree with one condition, that it is you who sing in French and I who sing in Kabyle. It was extremely difficult for me because Kabyle is a very difficult language to pronounce. There are three kinds of "f", it's very complicated. Afterwards, for his last album, he asked me to do the same with Né somewhere. He was an exquisite man, a sort of prince because he still reigned over the Kabyle song, almost without sharing. He was a great guy  . "

Maxime Le Forestier: "He was a great guy"

Sophie Torlotin

Idir sang in Kabyle and fought all his life for the recognition of the Kabyle language and culture, as Anne Berthod, specialist in world music, explains to the cultural magazine Telerama.

Anne Berthod: "Her concerts were like family reunions"

Sophie Torlotin

RFI was also able to join the great singer Tiken Jah Fakoly in Bamako, Mali, who had recorded the duo Africa Taferka with Idir.

Tiken Jah Fakoly: "It was really a great honor for me"

Sophie Torlotin

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