Zebda is a French music group from
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, known for its political activism and its wide variety of musical styles. The group, which was formed in 1985, consisted of seven musicians of diverse nationalities, and the themes of much of their music involved political and social justice, the status of immigrants and minorities in France, and the inhabitants of the French ''
banlieues
In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...
'', or suburbs.
English: "Zebda continues to talk about exclusion, racism, tolerance and its opposite." Zebda earned widespread recognition, as well as several awards, for its 1998 single "
Tomber la chemise" ("Take Off Your Shirt").
In 2001, the band spearheaded an independent political party that won over 12% of the first-round vote in
Toulouse's municipal elections. The group disbanded in 2003 but reformed in 2011.
History
Zebda was first formed in 1985 when
Magyd Cherfi
Zebda is a French music group from Toulouse, France, known for its political activism and its wide variety of musical styles. The group, which was formed in 1985, consisted of seven musicians of diverse nationalities, and the themes of much of ...
, a
community organizer
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest.
Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
at the time, organized a small group of his musician friends to shoot a video for a community organization for which he was working.
More members joined the group later—several of the members met one another through involvement in community projects geared towards supporting arts and music involvement among Toulouse youth.
[ Page 4.] The group began performing together regularly in 1988.
The band gained widespread recognition when they performed at the
Printemps de Bourges
Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe.
History
The festival was created in 1977 (by , , and ). With its span of 35 years ...
music festival in 1990 and then performed on an international tour which included venues in Great Britain,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
The group released its first album, ''
L'arène des rumeurs
''L'Arène des rumeurs'' is the first album of the French rock group Zebda
Zebda is a French music group from Toulouse, France, known for its political activism and its wide variety of musical styles. The group, which was formed in 1985, con ...
'', in 1992, under the label of
Barclay Records
Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953.
Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue inc ...
.
As the band toured and performed, the members continued to be active in community work, and Zebda became known for its politicized lyrics. Its 1995 album, ''
Le bruit et l'odeur'' ("The Noise and the Smell") took its name from a gaffe made by then-president
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
in reference to the conditions in the French ''banlieues'', many of which have large immigrant populations.
[ Page 3.] The record itself had a strong critical and commercial reception and has been said to have "cause
a major stir" in France.
In 2003, Zebda released its only live album, ''
La Tawa'', after which the band split up.
The group reformed in 2011 and toured France. A new album, ''Second tour'', was released in January 2012.
Political involvement
''Zebda'' (زبدة,
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
''Zibdah''), the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
word for butter (''beurre'' in French), is a play on the word ''
beur
''Beur'' (or alternatively, ''Rebeu'') is a colloquial term, sometimes considered pejorative, in French to designate European-born people whose parents or grandparents are immigrants from the Maghreb. The equivalent term for a female beur is a ...
'', a
French slang
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...
word referring to French citizens of North African origin
"''En verlan, arabe se dit beur. En arabe, beurre se dit Zebda.''"
''English'': "In verlan, "beur" means North African. In Darija, "Zebda" means butter beurre""—several of the group's members are of
North African
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and other immigrant descent.
As Zebda was originally formed for a community organization and many of the members met through social initiatives and activism, the band remained highly political throughout its existence; Bruce Crumley of the Culture Kiosque has called the group "politically engaged and culturally committed" and "politically progressive."
Much of the group's music and lyrics have centered on issues of political and social justice among the immigrant community and inhabitants of the ''banlieues''.
In fact,
Bangor University
, former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007)
, image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg
, image_size = 250px
, caption = Arms
...
's Jonathan Ervine, in a deconstructive analysis of Zebda's music and identity, states that "Zebda's music invokes both the virtues of multiculturalism and the problems that exist within French society regarding the treatment of immigrants,
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
, and young people from France's ''banlieues''. Difference, discrimination, and exclusion are themes that feature heavily in ''J'y suis, j'y reste''
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[ Page 7.] The themes of Zebda's music were known for dealing in issues of racism and intolerance.
In 1997, three members of Zebda formed a group called "Tactikollectif,"
which was involved in Fundraising">fund-raising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
and advocacy for immigrant groups in the ''banlieues''. In the 2001 French municipal elections">2001 municipal elections, Zebda sponsored and spearheaded a list of independent candidates, ''Les Motivé-e-s'' ("The Motivated Ones"),
who ran for office on the platform that the current local government was not representative of all demographic groups in the city; ''Les Motivé-e-s'' was also dedicated to encouraging local youth and immigrants to vote and become more involved in local political issues.
The group of candidates, two of whom were Zebda band members, won 12.38% of the vote in the first-round elections, and advanced to the second round, where they were narrowly defeated.
After the band's breakup in 2003, the individual members continued to be active in local politics and other activities for social advocacy.
Zebda's music is influenced by its band members' multicultural background as well as music from all over the world; the group's songs have incorporated rock, and reggae styles, and musical instruments and styles as diverse as Latin American music, Latin music, Arabic music, Arab, and French accordion.
While the content and themes of their music are politically serious, typically detailing racism and discrimination, the group has been said to have a positive and "upbeat" sound that represents the ideal of peaceful coexistence and cultural diversity.
The group is best known for its single "''Tomber la chemise''" ("Take Off Your Shirt"), from the 1998
''. In addition to being a commercial success, the song went on to be named the best French song of 2000 at both the
.
:
** Francophone song of the year (2000), for "''Tomber la chemise''"
** Francophone group of the year (2000)
"
*1999: "Y'a pas d'arrangement"
*2000: "Oualalaradime"
*2002: "L'erreur est humaine"