Rabiz

Etymology#

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. Others believe that the word has 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.

Varieties#

Kef, a subgenre of rabiz music, 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.

“Mi Gna”#

In 2016, rabiz music achieved international commercial success with the viral hit single “Mi Gna” released by Armenian American rapper Super Sako, on his album Love Crimes. Although an earlier version of the song in Armenian was composed by Artak Aramyan, the remixed version of the song with additional English lyrics by Super Sako propelled it to success. The song features vocals by Hayk Ghevondyan. “Mi Gna” hit #1 on Shazam Top 100 list, with its YouTube video upload has garnered over 190 million views. The song has been remixed numerous times since, as well as released in different language versions, including Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Kurdish (Sorani), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, and Turkish. A trilingual Armenian/English/French version, remixed by French-Congolese rapper Maître Gims, achieved success in France and the Francophone world.

Famous artists#

• Aram Asatryan
• Tatul Avoyan
• Tata Simonyan
• Armenchik
• Super Sako
• Spitakci Hayko