CHEB HASNI

Cheb Hasni was interested in performing from an early age. In an interview published in the French newspaper Libration in 1992, Hasni recounted how "everyone knew me in our neighbourhood when I was a kid. I was always walking up the road with my school bag thrown off my shoulder, singing my head off." Hasni was also talented in football and a good student, but these traits were overshadowed by his musical interests.



Hasni's first significant performance as a singer occurred when he attended a local wedding party, where the group led by the famous Naoui brothers was playing. Impressed by his voice, they invited him to perform on stage at a well-known cabaret, La Guinguette.



The second major launching point in Hasni's career came shortly afterwards when a producer asked him to record with Ra performer Chaba Zahouania. During the summer of 1987 the pair recorded a provocative song by Algerian standards, "Beraka" ("The Shack"), gaining them much attention. The subjects of his songs were controversial and made the song popular with Algerian youth, who contributed to the song's estimated sales of one million copies. The success of "Beraka" made Hasni famous, and a controversial subject with both critics and Islamic fundamentalists already concerned over the popularity of the Ra genre. Another major hit was "El Visa" a song about migration, which sold approximately 250,000 cassettes



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