Cheb Mami

Mohamed Khelifati (Arab: محمد خليفاتي, Muḥammad Khalīfātī; lahir 11 Juli 1966), lebih dikenal dengan nama panggungnya Cheb Mami (Arab: شاب مامي, shābb māmī), adalah seorang musisi dan penyanyi-penulis lagu Aljazair. Dia bernyanyi dan berbicara dalam bahasa Arab Aljazair dan terkadang dalam dialek Prancis atau Arab Timur. Secara internasional, ia dikenal karena menyumbangkan vokal pada single Sting tahun 1999 "Desert Rose". Cheb Mami lahir di Graba-el-wed (Arab: غربة الواد), kawasan padat penduduk di Saïda (Arab: سعيدة), Aljazair. Terletak 170 kilometer selatan Oran, kota ini berada di dataran tinggi barat laut Aljazair. Pada tahun 1985, Cheb Mami pindah ke Paris dan menemukan musik Raï. Dia kemudian melakukan dinas militer selama dua tahun di Aljazair sambil bekerja sebagai penghibur di pangkalan militer. Pada Mei 1989, dia kembali ke Paris. Dia melanjutkan tur ke Amerika Serikat, Belanda, Jerman, Swiss, Spanyol, Skandinavia, dan Inggris. Musik Cheb Mami merupakan perpaduan pengaruh Mediterania dan Barat, termasuk musik Turki, Flamenco, dan Yunani, serta musik Latin. Suaranya diwarnai dengan aksen Andalusia, dan musiknya merupakan perpaduan gaya menyanyi tradisional dan modern. Ketika album Sting, Brand New Day, dirilis pada tahun 1999, duet pasangan ini, "Desert Rose", muncul di tangga lagu single di seluruh dunia dan menyebabkan penampilan televisi di Saturday Night Live, Today Show, Jay Leno, David Letterman, siaran Grammy Awards, dan bahkan pertunjukan langsung di Super Bowl. Cheb Mami berada di bawah surat perintah penangkapan internasional setelah didakwa pada bulan Oktober 2006 atas "kekerasan sukarela, pengasingan, dan ancaman" terhadap mantan istrinya, dan gagal menjawab panggilan pengadilan pada tanggal 14 Mei 2007. Ia dituduh mencoba memaksakan aborsi pada pacarnya saat itu, fotografer majalah Isabelle Simon. Selama perjalanan ke Aljazair pada musim panas 2005, Simon dikurung di sebuah rumah milik salah satu teman Cheb Mami, di mana dia dicoba menjalani prosedur yang gagal. Setelah itu di Perancis, dia menyadari janinnya masih hidup, dan dia kemudian melahirkan seorang anak perempuan. Cheb Mami menuduh manajernya Michel Lecorre (a.k.a. Michel Levy) mengatur rencana aborsi; Levy kemudian dijatuhi hukuman empat tahun karena merencanakan dan mengatur penyerangan. Cheb Mami ditangkap di Prancis beberapa hari sebelum persidangannya dan ditahan oleh petugas di bandara Paris saat ia tiba di negara tersebut dari Aljazair pada tanggal 22 Juni 2009. Pada bulan Juli 2009, pengadilan Paris memutuskan dia bersalah atas penggunaan narkoba dan percobaan aborsi paksa, dan menjatuhkan hukuman lima tahun penjara. Pada tanggal 21 September 2010, pengacaranya mengajukan permohonan pembebasan bersyarat, namun permintaan tersebut ditolak pada tanggal 12 Oktober 2010. Namun setelah mengajukan banding kedua, pengadilan Prancis menyetujui pembebasan bersyaratnya pada tanggal 23 Maret 2011. Pada bulan Juli 2015, Cheb Mami harus memberikan kompensasi sebesar 200.000 euro kepada Cheb Rabah (lahir Rabah Zerradine) karena menjiplak teksnya. Lagu-lagu yang dimaksud adalah "Le raï c'est chic", "Madanite", "Ma vie deux fois", dan "Gualbi Gualbi". Sumber: Artikel "Cheb Mami" dari Wikipedia dalam bahasa Inggris, berlisensi CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Mohamed Khelifati (Arabic: محمد خليفاتي, Muḥammad Khalīfātī; born 11 July 1966), better known by his stage name Cheb Mami (Arabic: شاب مامي, shābb māmī), is an Algerian musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and sometimes in French or Eastern Arabic dialects. Internationally, he is known for contributing vocals to the 1999 Sting single "Desert Rose". Cheb Mami was born in Graba-el-wed (Arabic: غربة الواد), a populous quarter of Saïda (Arabic: سعيدة), Algeria. Located 170 kilometers south of Oran, the city is on the high mesas of northwestern Algeria. In 1985, Cheb Mami moved to Paris and discovered Raï music. He later performed military service for two years in Algeria while working as an entertainer on army bases. In May 1989, he returned to Paris. He went on to tour the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Scandinavia, and England. Cheb Mami's music is a blend of Mediterranean and Western influences, including Turkish, Flamenco, and Greek music, as well as Latin music. His voice is tinged with Andalusian accents, and his music is an amalgamation of traditional and modern styles of singing. When Sting's album Brand New Day was released in 1999, the pair's duet, "Desert Rose", appeared on singles charts around the world and led to television appearances on Saturday Night Live, the Today Show, Jay Leno, David Letterman, the Grammy Awards telecast, and even a live performance at the Super Bowl. Cheb Mami was under an international arrest warrant after being indicted in October 2006 for "voluntary violence, sequestration, and threats" against an ex-wife, and failing to answer a court summons on 14 May 2007. He was accused of attempting to force an abortion on his then-girlfriend, magazine photographer Isabelle Simon. During a trip to Algeria in the summer of 2005, Simon was locked in a house belonging to one of Cheb Mami's friends, where an abortive procedure was attempted on her. Afterwards in France, she realized the fetus was still alive, and she later gave birth to a daughter. Cheb Mami had accused his manager Michel Lecorre (a.k.a. Michel Levy) of organizing the abortion plan; Levy was later sentenced to four years for plotting and organizing the assault. Cheb Mami was arrested in France several days before his trial and taken into custody by officials at a Paris airport as he arrived in the country from Algeria on 22 June 2009. In July 2009, a Paris court found him guilty of drugging and attempted forcible abortion, and sentenced him to five years in prison. On 21 September 2010, his lawyers applied for conditional release, a request that was turned down on 12 October 2010. Upon a second appeal however, the French court agreed for his conditional release on 23 March 2011. In July 2015, Cheb Mami had to compensate 200,000 euros to Cheb Rabah (born Rabah Zerradine) for plagiarizing his texts. The songs in question are "Le raï c'est chic", "Madanite", "Ma vie deux fois", and "Gualbi Gualbi". Source: Article "Cheb Mami" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.