Souad Massi (Arabic: سعاد ماسي; born August 23, 1972) is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist.
She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats.
She grew up in the working-class Bab El Oued neighborhood of Algiers and took up singing and playing the guitar at an early age.
Massi disguised herself by cutting her hair and dressing in male clothing, but she nevertheless became the target of a series of anonymous death threats.
[7] In June 2001, she released her solo debut album, Raoui ("Storyteller"), which Allmusic compared to 1960s American folk music.
The album expanded on the themes of love and loss that had been explored on Deb, and featured duets with Daby Toure and Rabah Khalfa.