Ali Slimani.
Born and raised in the shadow of Algeria's national football stadium in a respectable suburb of the capital Algiers, Slimani bucked the trend amongst his fellow Algerian youth by boarding a magic bus bound for England rather than France in his early twenties. He arrived in the murky smoke of the capital during the depression of the early 1980s and proceeded to play the immigrants' poker game of survival; washing up, bartending, struggling with the language and the unfamiliar ways.
His luck began to turn when he started to DJ at North African community weddings and fiestas, rolling out the latest rai and chaabi sounds drifting over from Algeria. Luck played a decisive hand when Slimani was asked to DJ at a concert given by rai superstars Cheb Sahraoui and Chaba Fadela at the Empire in Leicester Square. This prime slot started a chain reaction which bought him to the attention of Jah Wobble's manager, and after a quick audition during which he was asked to sing Algerian football songs, Slimani joined Wobble's band the Invaders of the Heart.
After four fun-filled years touring the world Slimani took his leave of the Wobble express and recorded his first solo album 'Mraya' which was released on Real World Records. He was also invited to join Sinead O'Connor on Top of the Pops, thereby becoming the first Arab to penetrate that bastion of British popular culture. Five long years of touring and label searching followed, ending with the release of Slimani's latest solo CD 'Espoir' on Harmonia Mundi Records, an album which faithfully showcases his mix of new electronic sounds and old Algerian pop, rai and Kabyle sounds.
"'Espoir' means 'hope'," says Slimani. "It's the hope for peace in my country. There's no other way. Peace between us is very very important."
Biography by Andy Morgan,
Hi Ali Slimani, thanks for your friendship!
We are really happy to tell you our new cd 'YA DUNYA' is finally available at your local record store (Europe) or through iTunes or bol.com.
We are getting really great reviews, but you buying the cd makes us buying a beer and than we are both happy! :-)
kind regards and maybe our paths will cross this year!
Hope everything is fine!
Thanks a lot for supporting me by being my friend!
If music be the food of love.Play on :)
Don't hesitate to drop a comment if you feel like it...;-)
