Superstar King of the Rai Cheb Khaled visits Constantine for the performance of a concert scheduled here on Tuesday evening

Constantine- The Algerian international superstar and king of the Rai music Cheb Khaled visited Constantine, east of Algeria, on Monday evening to prepare for the performance of a concert under the program of Ramadan evenings in the city. 

• Cheb Khaled was invited by the football club MOC of Constantine and the department of culture in the city.
• Since his childhood Cheb Khaled was fan of the ancient football club which was founded by Ben Badis in 1939.
• The concert will take place in the 17th June Stadium in Constantine here on Tuesday evening.
• Cheb Khaled will also hold a press conference at Cirta Hotel in Constantine.
• Thousands of fans are expected to attend his concert, including fans of Constantine’s football club MOC.
• For the first time in his artistic career, Cheb Khaled conducted an exceptional gala at Oukil Ramdhane stadium in Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, on August 28.    
• Previously on this summer Cheb Khaled represented Algeria in the World Cup opening ceremony and sang his famous songs like “Didi”.
• Cheb Khaled, dubbed the King of Raï, is the most prominent star of this Algerian musical phenomenon known as Raï (which means “opinion”).
• American rap and Algerian raï are both styles born out of a strong local culture which use the language of the street to express opinions about street life. They value lyrical improvisation and “borrow” musical ideas from many sources if and when necessary. They antagonize the values of “decent” society and the cultural mainstream. They are the musical styles most favoured by the dispossessed in their respective countries, by those who have little to lose and a lot to say. And for both, their paths to international fame have been littered with controversy and misunderstanding. Just as folk who live comfortably within the cultural pale in America wince when they hear words like “bitch” and “uzi” coming from the mouth of a rap artist, so the cultural muftis of the Maghreb turn red when they hear tales of drunkenness, despair, sex, and hedonism from the lips of a teenage cheb.
• Khaled Hadj Brahim Alias Cheb Khaled was born in Oran, Algeria’s second largest city, which is also the often cited birthplace of Raï which emerged in the 1920s. Oran is a port city, in northwestern Algeria, and that fact is itself significant because as a port city it drew in influences from the wider Mediterranean world, and from the rural interior of Algeria.
• His songs “Didi” and “Aicha” are one of his greatest international hits.