Cheb Mami

Cheb Mami was born in Graba-el-wed (Arabic: غربة الواد), a populous quarter of Saïda (Arabic: سعيدة), Algeria. Located 170 kilometres south of Oran, the city of Saida is on the high mesas of northwestern Algeria.[2]

It was in 1985 that Mami came to Paris and found his musical niche.

He was in military service for two years in Algeria but was an entertainer on army bases. After that, in May 1989, Mami returned to Paris at the Olympia, rejuvenating Raï music. He also toured the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Scandinavia and England.

Mami's music is a blend of Mediterranean and Western influences including Turkish, Flamenco and Greek music as well as Latin music. His voice is tinged with Andalusian accents, and his music is an amalgamation of the traditional and the modern styles of singing and creation of music.

When Sting's album Brand New Day was released in 1999, the pair's duet, "Desert Rose", appeared on singles charts around the world, and led to television appearances on Saturday Night Live, the Today Show, Jay Leno, David Letterman, the Grammy Awards telecast and even a live performance at the Super Bowl.[3]

Although mainstream media in the US recognized Mami, Americans often equate his raï music genre with rock in the US during the 1950s and 1960s.[4] Americans believe raï to be "North African punk,"[4] a genre of music for expressing rebelliousness against the government and resembling the music of 'young rockers'[4] in the US, when actually this music plays a very different role in the life of the North African diaspora in France.[4] Although raï does include narratives of the various struggles of this community against "the Algerian state or against the forces of 'tradition'",[4] it is also the "music of the racialized Other"[4] which chronicles struggles with racism and identity of North African people in France.

Mami was under an international arrest warrant after being indicted in October 2006 for "voluntary violence, sequestration and threats" against an ex-wife, and failing to answer a court summons on 14 May 2007. He was accused of having tried to force Isabelle Simon, his former girlfriend and a magazine photographer, to have an induced abortion.[5] During a trip to Algeria in the summer of 2005, Isabelle Simon was locked in a house belonging to one of Mami's friends, where an abortive procedure was attempted on her. Back in France, however, she realized the fetus was still alive; she later gave birth to a daughter. Mami had accused his manager Michel Lecorre (a.k.a. Michel Levy) of organizing the abortion plan; Michel Levy was later sentenced to four years for plotting and organizing the assault.[6][7][8][9]

Mami was arrested in France several days before his trial; he was taken into custody by officials at a Paris airport as he arrived in the country from Algeria on 22 June 2010.[10] The following July, a Paris court found him guilty of drugging and attempted forcible abortion, and sentenced him to five years in prison.[11]

On 21 September 2010, his lawyers applied for conditional release, a request that was turned down on 12 October 2010.[12] Upon a second appeal however, the French court agreed for his conditional release on 23 March 2011.[13]

In July 2015, Cheb Mami had to compensate 200,000 euros to Cheb Rabah (born Rabah Zerradine) for plagiarizing his texts. The songs in question are "Le raï c'est chic", "Madanite", "Ma vie deux fois", and "Gualbi Gualbi".[14]