Khaled and Everything After

With no MTV at home until June 1993, the only way I found out about something new was if I heard about it at school. It was always in passing (Or maybe, since I wasn't directly involved, I just MADE it part of the background) that I heard these things. In early 1993, Std. XI, I started hearing comments with the word "Didi" in passing. Although I didn't really understand what the hell everyone was talking about, everyone knows that, unless your head is really buried in the sand, you can't escape fads. As part of our school's team at some interschool culturals, I started hearing fifteen-second snatches of some song that was driving all the kids crazy. It was during the Fashion Show that I heard more of this song. My friend SMK was to my left, clapping with everyone else, and he explained over the noise: "It's a song called Didi, by this guy named Khaled". SMK was also the guy who made me a copy of his Heart In Motion cassette, and even xeroxed the album cover, with some sketch pen colouring on it. At this point, I would like to address two kinds of people: those who are cringing at the mention of Heart In Motion - you are two-faced douchebags, don't tell me you didn't listen to the second song on side A at all after the 1992 pre-Grammies. Those of you who don't even know what song was track 2, side A on Heart In Motion - Yemandi, yerumaikundi?? Hint: It wasn't Galileo.

From this link:




"Hey, remember the time when...." sounds like the cue for some Family Guy cutaway, but do you? Remember the time when Didi took India by storm? It is not often in Indian entertainment history that a song makes it big when no one even understands what the song is about. Oh wait, I take that back. Who the fuck knows what Oye Oye was all about?! Or, for that matter, Eena Meena Deeka?! I should say, for what may have been the first time, the hit song was NOT in an Indian language (And I'm including English as an Indian language here, as I ALWAYS do!) and no one cared. I faked the lyrics, my brother tried to transcribe them. I'm sure a bunch of you tried the same thing. It's not like it came with the lyrics in the cassette, it wasn't Twelve Inches of Snow. If you don't know what song from Twelve Inches... I am talking about, who are you, and what have you done with my readers??

Before school was over for the year, I had already requested my major source of music at the time, Vinay, to put that song on a compilation for me. He went above and beyond the call of duty, and added a couple of recommendations to that casette: Khaled's El Arbi and Wahrane. If you haven't already, please check out El Arbi. If you have heard enough Bollywood music during 1992-1994, you might even recognize the tune!

Sidenote: The compilation casette was originally recorded over by Jeeshu in Std. X, and consisted of the following Pre-Grammy and Grammy songs from 1991:

Side A:
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
MC Hammer - You Can't Touch This
Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
Mariah Carey - Vision of Love
C + C Music Factory - Groove of Love (What's This Word Called Love?)
Rod Stewart - Downtown Train
Phil Collins - Another Day in Paradise
Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory

Side B:
Wilson Phillips - Hold On
Lisa Stansfield - Around The World

Vinay continued on this palimpsest by adding:
Khaled - Didi
Khaled - El Arbi
Khaled - Wahrane

followed by:
George Benson - Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You (Oh yeah, that was brought along by the then-popular ad for wool sweaters)
Khuda Gawah - Tu Na Jaa Mere Badshah (We watched this movie at Jeeshu's behest, the day we went textbook shopping in the summer of '92)
Khuda Gawah - Tu Mujhe Kabool
(End Sidenote)

Khaled's self-titled album came out in 1992. Track 1 side A was Didi. Once a song becomes popular, the only thing to do is to try and make it immortal. While we're at it, why not try and make some money for ourselves, too?! That's what Bollywood (and, I'm sure, a lot of other South Asian "woods") did. There was the blatant ripoff, Didi Didi. There were a couple of other ripoffs I don't really remember. The most memorable (at least for me) is the Bhappi Lahiri version, picturized on Anupam Kher and Rishi Kapoor, named "Ladki ladki". Very recently, I saw a video by a Pakistani group. The song was called Bibi Bibi, and I'll be damned if it wasn't lifted from the Khaled tune!

The story at the time was that Khaled was very happy when he toured India, and he sold Bhappi Lahiri the rights to the song for a Rupee. This is almost
unprecedented!!!!! Not the fact that he sold it for a Rupee, the fact that Bhappi Lahiri actually BOUGHT the rights to something before he ripped it off!

By summer of 1993, No Reservations was out, and we had something else to mimic and learn the lyrics to. (By the way, if you don't know what famous song was track 1, side A of this debut album by Kayview's dad, then please use Wikipedia for something useful!) so it seemed like the public had lost interest in Khaled. But that didn't stop Bollywood from making more versions of any leftovers they could scrape out of the Khaled akshayapaatra. That's when someone came along, and, just like Krishna in the akshayapaatra story, in late 1993 or maybe even 1994, and consumed the last morsel of food from the akshayapaatra and hoped that it would satisfy ALL of Bollywood's hunger. This person, whoever it was, copied El Arbi into a song that goes, "Tumse milna, milkar chalna achcha lagta hai". Looks like Bollywood's hunger was satisfied, or maybe they were just disgusted at the last rotten leftovers that resulted in such a song. They gave up on making more cover versions of Didi.

Khaled went on in 1993 to release N'ssi N'ssi, and a bunch of other albums we didn't give a crap about. He's still considered the king of rai by some, and I'm glad he is, because that means that Google searches for Khaled actually result in some links that are not nonsensical. Like, for example, this one I found. That's the reason for this article. They have the Didi video there, too. In case that link stops working at some point, here's an alternate link (this one has just the audio).

That is the brief history of Didi. Now go home. Wait till it's dark, turn off all the lights in your room, and turn El Arbi way the fuck up. Close your eyes and think of the desert. If you do these things and are somehow magically transported back to 1992-93, let me know. I haven't succeeded so far.

Another sidenote:
Just in case you're wondering why Khaled is sometimes credited as Cheb Khaled, here's what I found on this message board. Thanks to the user, Rooster-Blues:

And I thought I was the only Rai fan around here … Khalid’s didi is more of a modern day pop version of Rai music .. most of current Rai music has been Popized and been blended with guitar, strings and trumpets with traditional Rai music .. Rai Arabic word for opinion originated from the days of French colonial rule in North Africa, particularly from Algeria .. Rai was born to express political frustrations .. a from of decent and defiance to the oppressive French rule .. the lyrics were rebellious and political and paid tribute to freedom fighters … during late eighties and early nineties it made a comeback due to Pop music revolution around the world and the depressing political fall out in Algeria …Khalid and Mami were the big stars .. Kahlid blended acoustic guitars and electronica with the soft popy lyrics … the young generation of Rai sought to distinct it self from the older Rai singers .. Cheb (meaning young in Arabic) was added to the new generation Rai singers .. older generation is distinguished by Cheikh (old or sir a respect title for older generation in Arabic)… during the current bloody civil war almost all of the Rai stars migrated to France .. how ironic! … in terms of production and instruments (music) the quality has shot up … Kahild was the Rai intro to Pakistan and Asia in general .. Mami’s collaboration with Sting gave modern Rai even bigger audience … Rai singers have very aggressive style of singing very grungy and from the top of the throat yet very melodious to the traditional rhythmic Arabic percussion … My favorite is Maim and Rachid Taha … Taha , Mami, Khaled, Faudel are the Rai heavy weights … There is a women generation of Rai singers known by surname Cheba (young lady)…. Sorry cant recall all the names .. the Rai transcended over to Morocco and Tunisia as well … I will list some albums and names if any one is interested …