First Crossover: Khaled and "El Ghatli"

Our random song for today, El Ghatli, is by Khaled Hadj Ibrahim, also known by his performing names of Khaled and Cheb Khaled. Khaled is an Algerian raï singer and songwriter who started recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled and since has become a superstar and the most well-known Algerian performer in the world - he is usually labeled "The King of Raï." Khaled helped introduce raï to Western audiences, largely through adding flourishes in the 80s to traditional raï such as drum machines, synthesizers and electric guitars as well as melding the genre with other types of music such as reggae, rock and roll, and Egyptian and Moroccan pop. Later songs of Khaled introduced pedal steel guitar and Asian stringed instruments. Because his songs espoused the freedom of youth, pleasure and sex, he ran afoul of Islamic extremists who issued a fatwa against him and the style of music and caused him to move away from Algeria to France, where he continued to maintain his popularity among Algerians while simultaneously increasing his exposure to Western audiences. This song, El Ghatli, can be found on his 1994 album Khaled.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_(musician); https://www.britannica.com/biography/Khaled