Zebda
Encyclopedia
Zebda is a French
music group from Toulouse
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, 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.
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. The group began performing together regularly in 1988. The band gained widespread recognition when they performed at the Printemps de Bourges
music festival in 1990 and then performed on an international tour which included venues in France, Italy
, and the United Kingdom
.
The group released its first album, L'arène des rumeurs, in 1992, under the label of Barclay Records
. 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
in reference to the conditions in the French banlieues, many of which have large immigrant populations. The record itself had a strong critical and commercial reception and has been said to have "cause[d] a major stir" in France.
In 2003, Zebda released its first and only live album, La Tawa
, after which the band split up.
Zibdah), the Arabic
word for butter (beurre in French
), is a play on the word beur
, a French slang
word referring to French citizens of Arab origin"En verlan, arabe se dit beur. En arabe, beurre se dit Zebda."
English: "In verlan, "beur" means Arab. In Arabic, "Zebda" means butter ["beurre"]."—several of the group's members are of North African 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 around issues of political and social justice among the immigrant community and inhabitants of the banlieues. In fact, Bangor University
'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
, and young people from France's banlieues. Difference, discrimination, and exclusion are themes that feature heavily in J'y suis, j'y reste [a song from the album Utopie d'occase]." 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 fund-raising
and advocacy for immigrant groups in the banlieues. In the 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.
, and reggae
styles, and musical instruments and styles as diverse as Latin 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 platinum album
Essence ordinaire
. In addition to being a commercial success, the song went on to be named the best French song of 2000 at both the Victoires de la musique
awards and the NRJ Music Awards
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
music group from Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
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, 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
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Tomber la chemise
Tomber la chemise
"Tomber la chemise" is a 1998 song by the Toulousian collective Zebda. The song was released on 7 June 1999 as part of the first single from Zebda's third album Essence ordinaire and received a successful reception in France, where it reached number-one on the singles chart and won two awards...
" ("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
French municipal elections, 2001
Municipal elections were held in France on 11 and 18 March 2001. These elections were marked by a setback for the left and a victory for the right one year before the 2002 presidential election...
. The group disbanded in 2003.
History
Zebda was first formed in 1985 when Magyd Cherfi, a community organizerCommunity organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
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. The group began performing together regularly in 1988. The band gained widespread recognition when they performed at the Printemps de Bourges
Printemps de Bourges
Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, during five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe....
music festival in 1990 and then performed on an international tour which included venues in France, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The group released its first album, L'arène des rumeurs, in 1992, under the label of Barclay Records
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
. 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
Le bruit et l'odeur (album)
Le bruit et l'odeur is the second studio album of the French rock group Zebda, released in 1995.With this album, the group confirmed their social focus by adding engaging samples to their guitar-driven music...
("The Noise and the Smell") took its name from a gaffe made by then-president Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
in reference to the conditions in the French banlieues, many of which have large immigrant populations. The record itself had a strong critical and commercial reception and has been said to have "cause[d] a major stir" in France.
In 2003, Zebda released its first and only live album, La Tawa
La Tawa (album)
La Tawa is a live album from French rock group Zebda and their last work as a band. It was released in 2003 and produced by Zebda.The set contains two discs...
, after which the band split up.
Political involvement
Zebda (زبدة, transliteratedDIN 31635
DIN 31635 is a Deutsches Institut für Normung standard for the transliteration of the Arabic alphabet adopted in 1982. It is based on the rules of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft as modified by the International Orientalist Congress 1936 in Rome...
Zibdah), the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
word for butter (beurre in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), is a play on the word beur
Beur
Beur is a colloquial term to designate French-born people whose parents are immigrants from North Africa. The word was coined by reversing the syllables of the word arabe, which means Arabic or Arab in French. For example, "arabe" becomes "a-ra-beu" then "beu-ra-a" and "beur" by contraction. The...
, a French slang
Verlan
Verlan is an argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words...
word referring to French citizens of Arab origin"En verlan, arabe se dit beur. En arabe, beurre se dit Zebda."
English: "In verlan, "beur" means Arab. In Arabic, "Zebda" means butter ["beurre"]."—several of the group's members are of North African 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 around issues of political and social justice among the immigrant community and inhabitants of the banlieues. In fact, Bangor University
Bangor University
Bangor University is a university based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales-United Kingdom.It was officially known for most of its history as the University College of North Wales...
'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
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
, and young people from France's banlieues. Difference, discrimination, and exclusion are themes that feature heavily in J'y suis, j'y reste [a song from the album Utopie d'occase]." 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 fund-raising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
and advocacy for immigrant groups in the banlieues. In the 2001 municipal elections
French municipal elections, 2001
Municipal elections were held in France on 11 and 18 March 2001. These elections were marked by a setback for the left and a victory for the right one year before the 2002 presidential election...
, 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.
Musical style
Zebda's music is influenced by these band members' multicultural as well as music from all over the world; the group's songs have incorporated rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
styles, and musical instruments and styles as diverse as Latin music
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
, Arab, and French accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
. 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 platinum album
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
Essence ordinaire
Essence ordinaire
Essence ordinaire is a studio album from the French rock group Zebda, released in 1998.It was their landmark album, containing some of their most popular songs, in particular Tomber la chemise, which catapulted them to fame and earned them a Victoire de la musique award.The album can easily be...
. In addition to being a commercial success, the song went on to be named the best French song of 2000 at both the Victoires de la musique
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
awards and the NRJ Music Awards
NRJ Music Awards
The NRJ Music Awards, created in 2000 by the radio station NRJ in partnership with the television network TF1 takes place every year in mid-January at Cannes as the opening of MIDEM...
.
Awards
- Victoires de la musiqueVictoires de la MusiqueVictoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
:- Best group (2000)
- Best song (2000), for "Tomber la chemise"
- NRJ Music AwardsNRJ Music AwardsThe NRJ Music Awards, created in 2000 by the radio station NRJ in partnership with the television network TF1 takes place every year in mid-January at Cannes as the opening of MIDEM...
:- Francophone song of the year (2000), for "Tomber la chemise"
- Francophone group of the year (2000)
Discography
| No. | Album Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zebdomania (self-produced audio tape) | 1989 |
| 2 | L'arène des rumeurs | 1992 |
| 3 | Le bruit et l'odeur Le bruit et l'odeur (album) Le bruit et l'odeur is the second studio album of the French rock group Zebda, released in 1995.With this album, the group confirmed their social focus by adding engaging samples to their guitar-driven music... |
1995 |
| 4 | Essence ordinaire Essence ordinaire Essence ordinaire is a studio album from the French rock group Zebda, released in 1998.It was their landmark album, containing some of their most popular songs, in particular Tomber la chemise, which catapulted them to fame and earned them a Victoire de la musique award.The album can easily be... |
1998 |
| 5 | Utopie d'occase Utopie d'occase Utopie d'occase is the last studio album by French rock group Zebda before they disbanded. It was released in 2002 and produced by Zebda and Nicholas Sansano.... |
2002 |
| 6 | La Tawa La Tawa (album) La Tawa is a live album from French rock group Zebda and their last work as a band. It was released in 2003 and produced by Zebda.The set contains two discs... (live) |
2003 |
External links
Zebda's official homepage- Zebda article by Don Snow of Allmusic
- "Tomber la Chemise" music video on Youtube La Beurgeoisie The French website for successful "Beurs".