N'Ssi N'Ssi

Cheb (young) Khaled was a rebel in his day, an Algerian punk whose music blended racy lyrics with cheesy synths and drum machines in a sort of North African '80s techno. By the time he recorded this CD, he had dropped the Cheb and found that there was a whole world of sounds to choose from. Varying tracks were produced by Don Was and Phillipe Eidel. Eidel added a more lush, North African string orientation, while Was's tracks were pure-pop full of funky bass and R&B horns. Khaled's voice had matured as well, giving him assurance without losing that rebel edge. This recording had a lot of detractors when it came out, deriding it for being a betrayal of the rai "tradition." This is patently absurd, given that rai itself was only a generation old, and was created as a revolt against tradition. With N'ssi N'ssi, Khaled had grown, and so had his music. --Louis Gibson