Cheb Mami

In 1982, encouraged by these promising debuts, the 16 year old adolescent sang on the "Alhan wa Chabab" radio show, a singing competition organised by Radio Télevision Algérienne. He sang "El Marsam" (The Sanctuary) a classic of Oranese music from the 1920’s. The audience was transfixed by the sheer emotion of his performance and by his sinuous vocal intonations which captured perfectly the flavour of the song’s title. The judges, who represented a government which refused to admit even the existence of raï, gave the first prize to a cover version of a hit by the famous Egyptian diva, Oum Kalthoum, but were forced to acknowledge the standing ovation Cheb received by awarding him second prize.

Cheb was spotted by Boualem, the producer of the Oran label, Disco Maghreb, and the cassette waltz began. From 1982 to 1985, Mami recorded about ten cassettes, whose production varied from 100.000 to 500.000 copies each Raï, which has a reputation for vulgarity, is definitely not family music and was therefore a highly profitable market for producers - everybody illicitly bought their own cassette and listened to it alone in private. The young artist’s slice of the cake was thin but his gain in fame was huge.