الشاااااااب خاااااااااااااااااااالد
Khaled Hadj Brahim (
Arabic: خالد حاج ابراهيم, born 29 February 1960), better known as
Khaled, is a
raï singer-songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi-El-Houari in
Oran Province of
Algeria. He began recording in his early teens under the name
Cheb Khaled (
Arabic for "Young man Khaled") and has become the most internationally famous Algerian singer in the
Arab World and across many continents. His popularity has earned him the unofficial title "King of Raï". His most famous songs are "Aicha" and "Didi".
Biography
[edit] Early years
At the age of fourteen Khaled formed his first band, Les Cinq Étoiles ("The Five Stars"), and began playing at wedding parties and local cabarets. He recorded his first solo single, "Trigue Lycée" ("Road to High School"), at the same age
[1] and soon became involved with the early 1980s changes in the Raï sound, incorporating western instruments and studio techniques.[
citation needed]
[edit] Islamic fundamentalists' threats
Algerian
Islamic fundamentalists were violently opposed to raï because of its sometimes irreverent tone and the fact that raï singers freely addressed issues considered
taboo in
Islam, like sex, drugs, and
alcohol.
[2]
Singers like Khaled articulated socially progressive, more modern themes that many younger people identified with, a way of rebelling against the constraints of the older generations and more traditional Islam. As Khaled says himself, "in rai music, people can express themselves. We break taboos".
[3] This open embracing of taboo subjects in Islamic culture can be witnessed in the video of Khaled's hit song, "Didi", showing women provocatively dressed and dancing, both taboos in Islamic culture.
However, due the nature of these lyrics, fundamentalists were infuriated when the Algerian government, in the wake of a hugely popular 1985 raï festival in Oran, officially declared it to be one of the country's native music styles. In response, fundamentalists sent death threats to some raï artists. The danger forced Khaled to move to
Paris in 1986 (see
1986 in music). In 1994 these threats materialized when another raï artist,
Cheb Hasni, was murdered.
[4]
[edit] International audience
In 1992 (see
1992 in music), after dropping "Cheb" from his name, he released his self titled album
Khaled, which established his reputation as a superstar in
France and among maghrebian emigrants around the world and sold over a million copies in European alone, an estimated 7 million worldwide, and he scored an even bigger hit with his love song Aicha in 1996. . His audience has continued to expand throughout the 1990s, and he has collaborated with several
hip hop artists. Khaled had achieved superstar status in
France, his homeland
Algeria and the
Arab world. His signature song,
Didi, became extremely popular in the Arabic-speaking countries and also in several other countries, including
India and
Pakistan. The song was used also used in a
Bollywood film titled
Shreeman Aashiq. Khaled and
Don Was appeared on the "
The Tonight Show" on February 4, 1993.
[5] However, his popularity in the
US, the
UK and other countries has been limited to a small but devoted cult following. In the 1997 film
The Fifth Element his song Alech Taadi was used in the car chase with
Bruce Willis and
Milla Jovovich. His next album
N'ssi N'ssi further strengthened his position. Film-maker Bertrand Blier used it as the soundtrack for his film "Un, deux, trois… Soleil".and sold 2 million copies. Three years would pass before the release of his next album "Sahra". During this time Khaled received the 1994 Cesar Award for the best film soundtrack, the 'Victoire de la Musique' for the 1995 artist of the year, and co-organised a huge night at the Zenith (the Paris concert hall) for peace and freedom of expression in Algeria .
In 1999, he was joined by
Rachid Taha and
Faudel in a concert at the
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy for a concert known as
1,2,3 Soleils which was subsequently released as a live album and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.Khaled became very popular in French, Canada , Belgium, Holland, japan, England ,the Middle East ,india ,Germany ,Spain ,Italy ,Pakistan and Brazil
On 12 July 2008, khaled the legend of rai appeared at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall to take part in the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, part of the "Liverpool: European Capital of Culture 2008" function. Khaled has sold over 46 million albums worldwide.His legacy includes 10 diamond, platinum, and gold albums, as well as the highest-selling Arab album in history.
[edit] FAO Ambassador
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO was founded on October 16, 1945 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The FAO Goodwill Ambassadors Programme was initiated in 1999. On 16 October 2003, Khaled was nominated
Goodwill Ambassador of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
