The history of Cheb Hasni, one of the greatest Raï singers, murdered for his art on September 29, 1994
Life of Cheb Hasni
Cheb Hasni, stage name of Hasni Chakroun, was born in 1968 in Oran into a very humble family that pushed him from an early age to drop out of school to try and bring money home. Initially he will be noticed in the youth team of ASM Oran, the local football team but, following an injury, he loses the opportunity to be noticed on the football fields, however using the situation to his advantage. In fact, it seems that the first to ask him to perform as a singer was one of the leaders of the club, who begged him to sing at his brother’s wedding.
In 1986 he recorded his first cassette and just a year later he married Zahzouh Malika, who will become the inspiration for key songs such as “Baida Mon Amour” or “Tal Ghyabek Al Ghozali”, and will give him his only son, Abdellah. In 1992 he signed a contract with an important record company and began performing all over the world, unfortunately his tour of the globe ended too soon. Because of his fame as a Raï singer (a genre known for being particularly free on topics frowned upon by Islam), from 1994 he began to receive death threats, so much so that his family moved to safety in France.
In 1994 he was shot dead in his home by the Armed Islamic Group, which in those years was becoming the protagonist of a real anti-government civil war.
The Nightingale of Raï
Despite having been a singer for just 8 years of his life, Cheb Hasni’s musical production is truly mammoth and very current, so much so that there are many Algerians and non-Algerians (including those who are writing) who still listen to his songs and his melodies; a real monument of Raï. The main features of Cheb Hasni were without any doubt the timbre, truly unmistakable, and the themes, absolutely avant-garde for this genre.
Raï was in fact originally sung at parties and in taverns, distinguishing itself for being very free, explicit and direct on issues concerning alcohol and sexuality; Cheb Hasni was one of the first ever to introduce sentimental themes, an element that was missing and which will lead him to quickly acquire great notoriety. Naturally this peculiarity must be contextualized within Raï texts and in addition to pure love songs there are also several of a more sensual nature which, alas, cost him the wrong attention which will prove to be fatal.
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