Rabiz (music genre)

Rabiz or rabis (Armenian: ռաբիզ or ռաբիս) is a genre of Armenian popular music, distinguished by its lyrics and dance-oriented synthesized melodies in 6/8 time signature with elements of Armenian folk music. Rabiz first emerged in Yerevan in the 1970-80s and was often associated with Armenian migrants from Baku, Kirovabad, and rural regions of Armenia.[1][2] Rabiz singers are with few exceptions male. More recently, rabiz songs have been augmented with heavier arrangements and electronic dance music elements in their instrumentation.

Despite the term's widespread use, the etymology or definition of the word "rabiz" is not clearly understood. According to some sources it stems from the Russian phrase "работники искусства" (rabotniki iskusstva) used during Soviet times, meaning "Art Workers", in reference to unions which specialized in new music composition.[3] Others believe that the word has Turkish or Arabic roots, since the word "rab" means creator or god, while the Arabic name "aziz", which is used by many Armenians as meaning "darling" could perhaps be considered another root, thus referring to the genre performers as dear creators.[4]

A subgenre of rabiz music, called "kef" (unrelated to the homonymous Armenian-American kef music), concerns romantic love and partying, but also love of family or patriotism, similarly to Russian chanson or blatnyak.[3][2]

Though the singers and their audience primarily refer to rabiz as a music genre, the term is also used broadly to refer to a certain type of subculture with its particular fashion, Russian-derived slang, and lifestyle. The genre has received criticism from various music critics due to its perceived similarities to Middle Eastern and Turkish arabesque music.[2] Prominent performers of the genre include Aram Asatryan, Tatul Avoyan (known by the mononym Tatul), and Hayk Ghevondyan (known as Spitakci Hayko or more commonly by the mononym Hayko).

The musical language of the rabiz, being a blend of several musical traditions (primarily Armenian national music, called ashug. [Bardic-style] and Eastern in the style of the makam [classical court music]), it is marked by delicate Eastern harmony and an abundance of melisinas, which allow the musician to achieve the desired effect by purely musical means.[5]

Some performances of rabiz music are characterized by code-switching in which rabiz performers such as Mingichauri Samo (Samvel Avanesyan) and Spitakci Hayko (Hayk Ghevondyan) – reminiscent of similarly multilingual pieces by ashughs such as Sayat-Nova – improvise simultaneously in different languages such as Armenian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish and Russian. Sociologist David Leupold has suggested that this particular aspect of rabiz music may also help to challenge inter-ethnic boundaries hardened by decades of inter-state hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[2]

Outside of Armenia, rabiz also enjoys popularity in the Armenian diaspora, particularly in Russia and Los Angeles, California. Many of the performers of the genre are now greatly popular with Armenian diaspora listeners as well.