''Khaled'', released in 1992, is Khaled's self-titled album. The album was produced by

Michael Brook Michael Brook (born 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, music producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores. His collaborations with musicians around the worl ...

and

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

. The album was primarily sung in Khaled's native Algerian

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

dialect with the exception of "Ne m'en voulez pas", which was sung in French.

Production

Khaled signed with French record label

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue inc ...

, then brought in American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

to "incorporate American R&B—to Americanize the music", which Don Was achieved by combining Khaled's live musicians with loops and beats from his

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computer and a

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. The result of these sessions in the studio that combined Khaled's rai with Was' R&B, was, according to Was, "pretty wild music."

Reception

The response from the Arab public was mixed. Many of the more conservative Arabs stopped buying his records and going to his concerts, feeling offended by exposure to what they perceived as the liberal West, and by what they saw as "(selling) out to Western commercialism".Gross, Joan, David McMurray, and Ted Swedenburg. "Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Rai, Rap, and Franco-Maghrebi Identities." Diaspora 3:1 (1994): 21.

The_music_from_the_album,_especially_"Didi_(song).html" "title="eprinted in The Anthropology of Globalization: A Reader, ed. by Jonathan Xavier and Renato Rosaldo, 1 Others saw this as new, cool, and revolutionary, and he attracted a new audience. The music from the album, especially "Didi (song)">Didi Didi may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Didi" (song), a song by Khaled * Didi, the principal character in ''Didi's Comedy Show'', a German comedy television show * Didi Pickles, mother of Tommy and Dil in the cartoons ''Rugrats'' and ''All ...

," was played in French nightclubs and on Hip Hip Hourah, and the album began to sell well throughout France. The French emcee Malek Sultan of hip-hop band IAM (band), IAM called Khaled the "Public Enemy (band), Public Enemy Arabe". Khaled is regarded as the first raï artist to successfully cross over into the French pop market.

Track listing

# "

Didi Didi may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Didi" (song), a song by Khaled * Didi, the principal character in ''Didi's Comedy Show'', a German comedy television show * Didi Pickles, mother of Tommy and Dil in the cartoons ''Rugrats'' and ''All ...

" – 5:02 # "El Arbi" – 3:35 # "Wahrane" – 4:27 # "Ragda" – 3:51 # "El Ghatli" – 4:07 # "Liah Liah" – 4:21 # "Mauvais Sang" – 6:13 # "Braya" – 4:46 # " Ne m'en voulez pas" – 4:57 # "Sbabi" – 4:05 # "Harai" – 3:57

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Khaled (musician) albums 1992 albums Albums produced by Don Was Barclay (record label) albums Wrasse Records albums