Nabil El Amraoui (), known as Cheb (), is a Moroccan singer-songwriter and comedian from Oulmes,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. He has been described as a talented lyricist with a keen interest in traditional Moroccan music.

Biography

He started studying music at 15, at first with the guitar, followed by the after 2 or 3 years from studying guitar, the oud, the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, and the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

. He studied at the in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Influences

He is influenced by Zayane

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

folk music, having grown up with the sounds of Mohamed Rouicha, Azlmat, and Hadda Ouakki. He is also influenced by the ''chaabi'' songs played at weddings and parties in Rabat's al-Kamra neighborhood, as well as the

raï Raï (, ; , , ), sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called () or (), i.e. 'young', as opposed to (, 'shaykh'), i.e. 'old', the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradi ...

songs of artists such as

Cheb Hasni Cheb Hasni (Arabic: الشاب حسني), born Hasni Chakroun (Arabic: حسني شقرون), (1 February 1968 – 29 September 1994), was an Algerian raï singer. Regarded as "The King of Sentimental Music","le rossignol du raï", his contributi ...

Cheb Mami Mohamed Khelifati (; born 11 July 1966), better known by his stage name Cheb Mami (), is an Algerians, Algerian musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and sometimes in Mashriqi Arabic, Eastern Arabic dialects or ...

, Khaled, Cheb Nasro,

Cheb Bilal Bilal Mouffok (; born 23 July 1966), known professionally as Cheb Bilal (), is an Algerian raï singer, He produces traditional music that includes instruments like congas and violins. Career Bilal spent much of his youth in Oran, where he stu ...

, and Cheb Rizki that would play at the billiard halls. Among ''chaabi'' influences, Cheb cites , Miloud Lamghari, El Bhiri, Najat Aatabou, as well as old names of ''aita'' music. Later on, with

satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish which receives direct-broadcast satellite televisio ...

es, he was introduced to ''sharqi'', or Middle Eastern music, and with the internet, rock, metal, and jazz. Cheb has also expressed an appreciation for the music of

Ziad Rahbani Ziad Rahbani (, born 1956) is a Lebanese composer, pianist, playwright, and political commentator. He is the son of Fairouz, one of Lebanon and the Arab world's most famous singers, and Assi Rahbani, one of the founders of modern Arabic music ...

Music

Cheb is an internet sensation, with cult popularity on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. His music has been described as "purely Moroccan," making use of authentic ''chaabi'' rhythms.

Lyrics

Cheb writes his songs in "pure" Darija, or Moroccan vernacular Arabic. The lyrical content of his music has been described as idiosyncratic, at once mundane and profound. His song ''al-mā'an'' ( "The Dishes") in particular has drawn attention.

Albums

* ''Tkharshish'' (), 2018 *''Akhar as-Sa'alik al-Muhtaramin'' (), 2019 *''Sma’ Balak'' (), 2021

Songs

*''Wslatkom Chi Haja Mn Chamch?'' (وصلاتكم شي حاجة من الشمش؟), 2021 *''Helahoppa'' (هيلاهوبا), 2021 *''Doremifasolasi'' (دو ري مي فا صو لا سي), 2021 *''Hammam alzalqin'' (حمّام الزّالِݣين), 2021 *''B'lil, F'sma'' (بالليل، فالسما), 2024 ''Sma’ Balak'' (سمع بالاك), 2021 *''Reklam'' (ريكلام), 2021 *''Fi Tabi'atin Ma'' (في طبيعة ما), 2020 *''Dwaqa Wlla... Ghellaqa?'' (ذواقة ولا غلاقة؟), 2020 *''Scandale'' (سكونضال), 2020 *''Fi Intidhar Sandwich'' (في انتظار السندويش), 2021 *''Doar Al Alam Attaleth'' (دوار العالم الثالث), 2020 *''Hna El Caramel'' (حنا الكراميل), 2020 *''Ajmal Balad Fi Al Alam'' (اجمل بلد فالعالم!), 2020 *''Saifan'' (صيفا), 2020 ''Akhar as-Sa'alik al-Muhtaramin'' (), 2019 *''Bghina Lil Maysalich'' (بغينا الليل ميساليش), 2019 *''Kutukutu'' (كوتوكوتو), 2019 *''Ghabra d Njom'' (غبرة دنجوم), 2019 *''Fin A Smaïn?'' (فين اسماعين؟), 2019 *''Hassan'' (حسن), 2019 *''An Lma'en'' (عن الماعن), 2019 *''Majanin'' (مجانين), 2019 *''Tajine El Hout'' (طجين الحوت), 2019 *''Lloha'' (اللوحة), 2019 *''L'ars'' (العرس), 2019 *''Zin Zin Zin'' (زين زين زين), 2019 ''Tkharshish'' ({{Lang, ar, تخرشيش), 2018 * ''Wakha?'' (واخا؟), 2018 *''Douar Al Alam Al Thaleth'' (دوار العالم الثالت), 2018 *''Sir O Aji'' (سير و اجي), 2018 *''Lahrira'' (الحريرة), 2018 *''Choclatati' (شكلاطتي), 2018'' *''L'ayach' (العياشة), 2018'' *''Lhazqa'' (الحزقة), 2018 *''Lhsab Sabon'' (الحساب صابون), 2018 *''Sgo'ya'' (صكوعية), 2018 *''Comparse'' (كومبارس), 2018 *''Nti Dnya Nti?'' (نتي دنيا نتي؟), 2018 *''260'' (٢٦٠), 2018 *''Sfar o Rose'' (صفر وغوز), 2018

References

Living people 21st-century Moroccan male singers Moroccan songwriters People from Oulmes, Morocco 1990 births