Cheb Aïssa

One of the greatest singers of rai, Cheb Aissa (born Ali-Sherif Benaissa) continues to set his ultra-light vocals and jovial persona to a mixture of traditional and modern urban melodies. Since scoring a major hit with his second cassette, Bela-Babi, in 1988, Aissa has continued to attract followers with his unique style of rai-trab, a tradition-based song based on improvisations and vocal modulations. A native of Saida, a small city 200 kilometers west of Oran, Aissa found his early inspiration in the singing of his mother and maternal grandmother, who performed for strictly ...