| Friday July 13 1:31 PM ET 2001 Cheb Mami Looks to Spread Rai Music By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer PARIS (AP) - When Cheb Mami started singing as a boy in Algeria, rai music was banned from the radio because of its irreverent lyrics about desire, politics and the problems of everyday life. So Mami sang in the streets and at weddings, dreaming of a time when his music might have greater reach. Today he's a star not only in his violence-plagued country, but also in Europe, where rai - a blend of Western pop and sinuous Eastern melodies - pulses through almost every dance club. Now Mami, 34, is touring the United States, where his brand of music is still unfamiliar. He's already made inroads: American audiences got a hint of his haunting, high-pitched voice on Sting's hit ``Desert Rose,'' which they sang together at the Super Bowl. Mami, who also has a new album, hopes to be a cultural ambassador for rai music and for Algeria, which is struggling with high unemployment, unrest among its young people and nearly a decade of extremist violence. ``Rai is a way of talking about our daily life, the daily lives of youths in Algeria,'' Mami said in an interview in Paris, where he lives. ``Young people in Algeria ... dream of having lives like young people in other places.'' Some of rai's themes, like love, are universal. But with its unfamiliar rhythms and Arabic lyrics, it might initially be a tough sell in the land of rock 'n' roll, Mami said. He doesn't mind. ``I like challenges. You've got to fight to have things you want,'' said Mami, who speaks in Arabic-accented French. He's known for his on-stage energy, and offstage, too, he bursts into song and dance in his chair. ``What's the point of things that come easy? When a poor guy buys a bicycle, it makes him more happy than a rich guy who buys a Ferrari.'' Mami's new album, ``Dellali,'' released July 3 in the United States, stretches the definition of rai, mixing plaintive Bedouin melodies, reggae, French chanson, African beats and Indian-style violins. Sting and Ziggy Marley sing backup. ``I wanted to do something more international, more daring,'' Mami said. ``I dream that rai can be world music in the real sense of the term.'' Mami compares rai to two styles of music that evolved on the other side of the Atlantic: reggae and the blues. ``These are forms of music that were born from a cry of protest,'' he said. Rai was developed early in the 20th century by Algerian women forced to stay home while their husbands went out, Mami says. Eventually youths, or ``chebs,'' picked it up. |
In the 1980s, rai was considered so volatile that many singers fled Algeria for France, developing a following among the large North African community there. Mami moved to Paris in his late teens. Rai was nearly unknown in Paris then, and he was his own producer and manager, selling tapes on street corners. As his success grew, Algeria spiraled into chaos. In the early 1990s, Mami watched from abroad as Islamic insurgents launched a campaign of terror to try to topple the military-backed government. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the violence. Mami didn't sing in Algeria for nearly a decade, though he often went back to visit. ``We couldn't give concerts ... while there was death everywhere,'' he said. ``It wasn't a place to make music.'' The Muslim extremists condemned many of the arts, but rai was a particular target because of its sassy, sometimes racy lyrics. Several popular singers were killed. One of Mami's close friends, singer Cheb Hasni, was gunned down in 1994. Mami was recording in Los Angeles when he heard the news. ``It was tough. Afterward we had to continue, we had to resist,'' Mami said. In 1999, when things in Algeria turned more hopeful, Mami gave his first concert there in 10 years, drawing 100,000 fans. A new president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had been elected, pledging to end the insurgency. ``I said, it's now or never for this concert. It's time to give people a breath of fresh air,'' Mami said. Two years later, the insurgency has lessened but still continues. And there are new problems: Algeria's young people, especially the Berber minority, have been rioting out of frustration over their prospects. Mami returns home to Algeria about every six weeks. He is patiently waiting for the country to heal. ``I can only be optimistic. I love my country,'' he says. ``One day, Algeria will wake from its nightmare and get back on its feet.'' |