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Artist
Fadela & Sahraoui
12+ albums
arabicraialgerianAllmaghreb
about
Born in 1962 as Fadela Zalmat, Cheba Fadela grew up in a poor, formerly Jewish neighborhood, not far from the large city theater. At the age of fourteen, she played a role in the film "Djalti,” directed by Mohamed Ifticène and made her musical debut as a background singer in Boutiba S’ghir’s band. Her voice can also be heard on recordings by Rai singer Cheikha Djenia. Fadela’s nick name, "Remitti Sghira” (Little Remitti) followed as a result of the resemblance her potential career bore to that of famed Rai singer, Cheikha Remetti. In the late seventies, Cheba Fadela was discovered by the legendary Rai producer, Rachid Baba Ahmed. Ahmed’s modern 24 track studio in Tlemcen was the power house that produced Algerian Pop-Rai. With his help, Fadela became one of the first stars of the new musical sound that appealed to a frustrated generation of Algerians. Thanks to the inexpensive cassette tape, Pop-Rai quickly achieved wide distribution. In contrast to the traditional Rai of the "Cheikhs” and "Cheikhas,” which was popular at the turn of the century in the bars and brothels of Oran, the new generation of Rai singers gave themselves the surname of "Cheb” or "Cheba,” meaning "the young.” With the 1979 song "Ana Ma H’Lali Ennoun” (I don’t want to sleep), Fadela landed her first big hit. The recognition that she gained from that success catapulted her to even larger fame in 1983 with "N’Sel Fik” (You are mine), a song she recorded together with Mohammed Sahraoui. Their marriage imm
