Mezoued

Mezoued, also spelled mezwed, is a popular traditional music of Tunisia named for its lead instrument, the mizwad, a double-chanter bagpipe of goat or ewe skin ending in two horn bells. Backed by darbouka and bendir, singers perform in Tunisian Arabic on love, family, work, emigration and social grievance, in a style long associated with the countryside, wedding parties and the urban working class. Officially disdained for much of the 20th century, mezoued circulated by cassette and at celebrations, absorbed keyboards and guitars, and now feeds Tunisian rap and electronic fusions.