Cheb Mami, whose real name is Mohamed Khelifati, was born on July 11, 1966 in Saïda, Algeria. At the age of 14, he became a wedding and baptism host, before becoming a welder's apprentice to support his family. He did not abandon music, however, performing weekends in Oran cabarets. In 1982, he performed on Algerian television. He was spotted by Boualem Disco-Maghreb and began recording his first songs. In 1985, he moved to Paris and performed at the Olympia the following year. After fulfilling his military obligations, the young artist recorded his first official album, Prince du Raï , in 1989, earning himself the nickname. The following year, he went to New York to work on his second album, Let Me Raï . But it was with his successor, Saïda , named after his hometown, that he scored a big hit in France, selling 100,000 copies. His success continued with the 1998 album Meli Meli , which included the hit "Parisien du Nord", sung as a duet with the rapper K-Mel from the group Alliance Ethnik. The following year, international recognition followed with "Desert rose ", a duet with Sting. The track was included on the Du Sud au Nord album, which featured a host of guests in 2003, including Ziggy Marley, Zucchero and 113. Meanwhile, in 2001, he released the album Dellali. In 2003, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit. However, this distinction was withdrawn in 2011 following his conviction for attempting to perform a forced abortion on his ex-girlfriend. His musical career was put on hold. In 2018, he resumed his activities, singing as a guest on the track "Ça fait des années" alongside Soulking, as well as on "Kounti", with Lacrim.
