Cheb Hasni: the assassinated musician who stood up against fundamentalism
The story of cultural heroes being murdered is something the world is acutely aware of. In the sprawling North African country of Algeria, the people know this better than most, with their numerous examples to draw upon. However, the most significant occurred on September 29th, 1994, when the country’s youth, poor and liberal elements lost their musical mouthpiece, Cheb Hasni, when he was gunned down in cold blood aged 26. The mystery remains unsolved.
Known affectionately as ‘The King of Sentimental Music’ and ‘The Legend of Raï Music’, Hasni was a hero of the Algerian folk music genre, Raï, a form that dates back to the 1920s and is inextricable from the country’s tumultuous and bloody history from the past century.
The tradition materialised among the poor communities in the major coastal city of Oran, Cheb Hasni’s hometown. Singers of the genre are traditionally called Cheb, meaning that the man born Hasni Chakroun became Cheb Hasni when moving into music. Finding a place in the heart of the Algerian masses, Raï is a cultural force because it focuses on societal issues ranging from European colonialism to disease.
Born on February 1st 1968, Cheb Hasni was born into a working-class family in Oran. His father was a welder, and his mother a homemaker, with him one of seven children. Experiencing the plight that many native Algerians did during this era, following the bloody conflict with France which led to independence in 1962, growing governmental authoritarianism, war with neighbouring Morocco, an economic crash and the spread of Islamism, Hasni was well-placed to become a folk hero due to his roots in Oran.
Naturally talented as a musician from childhood, he originally intended to become a footballer, but his plans soon changed at age 15 following a severe injury. He knew that music was his calling after his first performance in public, when he sang during a wedding had the guests enthralled. Luckily, at the wedding, the band led by the celebrated Naoui brothers were playing, and they, like everyone else, were seriously impressed. They then invited him to perform at the esteemed cabaret La Guinguette. Hasni’s rise would be swift following such an immense stroke of serendipity.
Making his name at the cabaret led a producer to ask Hasni to record with female Raï performer Chaba Zahouania. Their big hit arrived in 1987 when they released ‘El Baraka’ (‘The Shack’). This certified the pair as cultural legends, with the song’s subject discussing drunken sexual intercourse, a highly controversial thing in an already Muslim country where Islamism fundamentalism was increasingly prominent.
‘El Baraka’ made Hasni and Zahouania immensely popular amongst the youth, selling over a million copies. Another immense hit was ‘El Visa’, a song about migration which shipped over 250,000 cassettes. One of the most prolific artists in Raï, Hasni recorded roughly 100 tapes in his short time in the limelight, with his unique form of the genre – ‘Raï love’ – proving to be widely influential, with icons such as Cheb Nasro rising in his wake.
During the early 1990s, Hasni continued to push back against social mores and taboos. A brave undertaking, it was in this period that the Islamist fundamentalists launched an insurgency against the Algerian government, committing a series of bloody civilian massacres starting in 1991. Things were so bad during this conflict that the international community became concerned after moving outside Algeria’s borders when the Armed Islamic Group hijacked Air France Flight 8969 in 1994. France’s elite GIGN counter-terror unit halted their plot to crash into the Eiffel Tower.
However, during this period, Hasni asserted his dominance as the modern face of Raï. In the face of such terror, he persisted in singing about the Algerian youth’s dire circumstances. In true folk hero style, he gave a voice to the otherwise voiceless and impoverished, discussing unemployment, love, drugs, immigration and more.
Given that such a myriad of extremes wracked Algeria during Hasni’s peak, it meant that he spent most of his time performing abroad. With curfews and musical restrictions also drastic, like other prominent Raï stars, he performed worldwide, including in major cities such as Boston, Washington DC, Paris, Marseilles, Tunis, Casablanca, and as far away as Tokyo.
Interestingly, due to his immense fame, position as a hero of the people, and, most importantly, controversial songs, Hasni received multiple death threats from Islamic fundamentalist extremists. Yet, in another display of his boldness, his primary residence was still Oran, despite his family living in the much safer country of France, a country with a sizeable Algerian population due to its colonial past.
Displaying how infrequent Hasni’s performances in his home country were, his last one was on July 5th, 1993, ten months before his death. An iconic concert was delivered to over 150,000 fans in the capital of Algiers at an event celebrating the country’s independence.
Tragically for Hasni, his family and his fans, on September 29th, 1994, he became the first Raï musician to be murdered amidst the ongoing conflict. He was killed outside his parents’ home in Oran’s Gambetta district when a still unidentified attacker fired two bullets at him. The first struck his throat, with the second hitting his head. Only days prior to his assassination, a violent wave against Raï performers had begun, with Kabyle Berber singer Lounès Matoub abducted by the Armed Islamic Group. Following this, in February 1995, Raï producer Rachid Baba-Ahmed was also killed in Oran.
Understandably, the news of Cheb Hasni’s death spread quickly over the Maghreb region of North Africa. He continues to be revered as a legend of the Raï genre, with his passionate music and bravery in the face of injustice inspiring new generations of Algerian and Maghrebi musicians to use their art for the greater good.
