A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Lounes, Matoub
It is hard to imagine a more powerful cultural symbol for any group then Matoub Lounes was for the Imazighen (Berbers) of the Kabyle and throughout North Africa. Lounes is a distinctive vocalist who was wounded by government bullets and kidnapped by Islamist radicals, before he was finally assassinated by the latter at a road block in 1998. Lounes wrote songs which openly challenged both the Islamist and the government, asserting the linguistic and cultural rights of the Kabylies. Clearly, Matoub Lounes sets the standard for social involvement on the part of the artist.