Cheb Mami

Cheb Mami

EVERYTHING HE DOES IS MAGIC
Algerian Rai Star Cheb Mami Rocks Sting's World -- and Yours
Collaborating with Sting on the ex-Policeman's BRAND NEW DAY is the just the latest entrée into the global pop scene by French rai star Cheb Mami. His latest, MELI MELI ("what happens to me"), already a smash hit in France, presents the Algerian-born singer in a variety of settings, from hip-hop to full-on world fusion. With Mami's latest success, rai music has once again proved its capricious -- and charismatic -- nature. The term loosely means "opinion," and rai, in marked contrast to most traditional North African and Arabic music heard in the West, celebrates the outspoken. Lust, drink, forbidden things, and, above all, soul-stirring longing are its hallmarks -- a lot like rock 'n' roll. Meanwhile, rai's musical component has continued to change with the times. As albums by Mami and fellow rai stars Khaled and Rachid Taha have proved, the message is equally at home in reggae, funk, hard rock, and techno moods. Mark Schwartz caught up with Cheb Mami after an outdoor performance with Sting in New York City. Sting's manager (and Mami's boss at his U.S. label, Ark 21) Miles Copeland was on hand to translate -- and inject some of his own opinion.

bn.com: Did you enjoy the performance with Sting?

Cheb Mami: I was very, very happy with the show today. It was my first time performing for American TV, and the people were really great. It was really exciting.

bn.com: How did the collaboration come about?

Miles Copeland: I'm Sting's manager, and I grew up in the Middle East. I've always listened to rai music and Arabic music. Cheb Mami is the greatest rai singer, in my opinion, and I gave Sting a record. He called me a few days later, and he said he really liked it and wanted to see it. I took him to see Cheb Mami, and that was it.

bn.com: Most Americans' exposure to Arabic music has been limited to spiritual material, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But rai isn't like that at all, is it?

CM: The message of rai is that there are no frontiers, no borders between people. Rai began in Algeria, and it came out of social problems there between the young and older generations. Because the new generation in Algeria -- 70-75 percent of them are under 25 years old -- they watch international television, and they're living in step with the times. There's been a long delay between the generations.

bn.com: Rai's always been pop music.

CM: Yeah, it's like the blues or reggae. But it's changed. Older rai music was sung with traditional Arabic flutes and other instruments; the new music is synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, bass. Like with reggae, the older music is the tradition that the new technology is based in.

bn.com: On your duet with Sting, "Desert Rose," your part might sound like spiritual singing. Is it?

CM: Well, I can't tell the American audience what to think. It's difficult to interpret the lyrics. Because there are many problems with Arab fundamentalists in the world, I suppose there are people who think we all sing about Islam. There's also music, and that's what I do. That's why I met with Sting...we're musicians. That's an interesting question -- I should be prepared, because this is a new audience for me!

bn.com: On your new album, you've done some work with French hip-hop artists of Algerian descent.

CM: Yes, "Parisien du Nord" was done with Imhotep [DJ of French rap group IAM]. It was a hit in France. The other guy was called Kamel, who is an Algerian born in France -- a beur [the second generation of North African immigrants]. That was the first time that there was that kind of meeting between rai and rap music. Six years ago I recorded in Los Angeles with Baby Girl [an American rapper], but I wanted to do this as a new song for the beur community.

bn.com: The beur boys are important in French hip-hop, right?

CM: There are many young beur in rap. Most hits in French rap come from the children of immigrants born in France.

bn.com: Is rai still big in France?

Miles Copeland: Rai has exploded in France -- Mami had a No. 3 single, Faudel had a Top 3.… They had a special concert in Bercy with Khaled, Faudel, and Rachid Taha that sold out. Cheb Mami's shows all sell out…it's very successful. And the merger of hip-hop and rai has brought in all the youth and the Arabic instrumentation. That's what Sting liked, that rai is very open and new. He doesn't like traditional music, he likes hybrids. If you listen to Mami's album, you hear rap, you hear bagpipes, you hear techno, and it all works.

bn.com: Is Cheb Mami still the "Prince of Rai"?

CM: Not anymore. Fifteen years ago, when I came to France I was a prince. But rai is not a monarchy. No prince, no king, no emperor. I'm Cheb Mami.

bn.com: Khaled has said that he couldn't return to Algeria because of fundamentalists threatening his life. Is that the same for you?

CM: No, I would never be afraid. I played a big event in Algiers in July for 100,000 people. Khaled is going in November to sing in Algiers.

bn.com: Miles Copeland: Since the elections in Algeria, the country has opened up. The concert was something of an announcement that things were changing, and Mami was invited for that. The new president was at the show. Now lots of singers are coming back, because Mami opened the doors.

CM: Algerians want to live, they want to hear music, go to bars and the beach. It's not like Iran. The situation is normal.

bn.com: Will more Algerians in France want to return?

CM: The planes are full. So many immigrants wanted to spend holidays in Algiers that you couldn't get a seat. There are only four flights a day from Paris, and it's not enough.

Miles Copeland: I tried to go to the concert in July and couldn't get a seat. A couple of planes were full of journalists because it was such a big political event. No one believed that an artist could perform live in Algeria. They had to see it to believe it.

Mark Schwartz