Track Listing

1. Le Rai C'est Chic
2. Khalouni
3. Viens Habibi
4. Madanite
5. Rim Lachoua
6. Yahamami
7. Ana Oualache
8. Ma Vie 2 Fois
9. Tzazae
10. Zarartou
11. Mamazareh
12. Machi Chaba
13. Haoulou

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95504 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-03
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Paralleling the origins of the Western world's early rock & roll, punk, and hip-hop (as well as the blues and reggae), rai originated in Algeria's underclass as homegrown recreational art. The personal became political, and as its popularity (and controversy) grew, the music--marked by raw, provocative, and willful vocals--became a beautifully uplifting and rebellious expression, a flag claimed and raised high by Algeria's young. One of the form's earliest innovators, Cheb Mami fled to Paris where he has for two decades been a rising star, blending rai with dance, hip-hop, funk, and rock, in a string of ever-more accessible recordings. His international calling card, however, was backing Sting on the if-you-haven't-heard-it-you've-been-living-under-a-rock "Desert Rose." Neither a purist nor a misstep-fearing artist, Mami goes for broke with his brave new record, Dellali. Sinewy, sophisticated, and genre-expansive, Dellali features Mami's barbed-wire vocals cutting through multi-layered fields of wild and orchestral violin, accordion, cello, oud, and drums. In turnabout, Sting backs Mami on a track, and late Nashville sensation Chet Atkins is on guitar on backing vocals. But the most shimmering and soulful moments come when the London Community Gospel Choir bust a glorious move to make Dellali a grandiose explosion of nearly perfect sound. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

Rai music
Rai music is for anybody to listen (Pop Algerian music with mixed of French and Arabic), it is the most beautiful music! The voice of Cheb Mami is incredible, this is as good as Opera Music in Arabic taste...sounds and voice transcend you to the mysterious Saharian desert. I would never be tired of hearing this music. I was not so kin to hear some of the other songs at the beginning, but the more you listen to them and the more you'll appreciate them. A good buy!

Cheb Mami Rocks!!!!!
I first heard him with Sting on Dessert Rose, then with Zucchero& Co. That made me want to buy an ablum of just him and it was well worth it. I don't understand the languages he sings in but it isn't necessary. The spirit comes through!!!

Rai Fusion Served Up in Swirling Bazaar of Danceable Music
Like everyone else who was not familiar with rai, the Algerian-based percussive musical movement that has cut a wide swath in world music, I was introduced to Cheb Mami through his provocative singing on Sting's "Desert Rose". Upon a friend's recommendation, I bought this disc and was pleasantly surprised by its diversity and from-the-heart musical expression. While it does have that spice bazaar vibe that may seem alienating to those less amenable to what could be considered a niche market, the recording also presents a spirited mix of sounds - reggae, techno, gospel - without appearing to compromise the rai style Cheb Mami is attempting to spread worldwide.

Mami sings with seemingly great abandon with his recognizable falsetto voice, and it is this bravado that carries this highly rhythmic disc. He has assembled an impressive list of world-class musicians to help him - the late Chet Atkins, Omar Hakim, Nile Rodgers, Nitin Sawheny and in a fair trade deal, Sting. Most of the tracks are definitely ear-catching, but three stand out on their own - "Rim Lachoua", which has traces of Rodgers' late seventies-era sound mixed with a percolating bass/accordion combination; "Ana Oualache", a gospel number in an exotic setting that succeeds thanks to Indio-Anglo mixmaster Sawheny's blend of Mami's elevated voice with a back-up chorus (including Sting), string section, and digital beats; and best of all, the opening song, "Le Rai C'est Chic", which mixes his voice with some synthesized vocals that is irresistibly danceable. "Dellali" is a worthy introduction to rai-fusion, including exotic instruments like the djembe and derbouka, and certainly to the mesmerizing voice of Mami. Highly recommended for the more musically adventurous.