Cheikha Rimitti

b. Saadia al-Ghizania, 8 May 1923, Tessala, Algeria, d. 15 May 2006, Paris, France. Born poor, Rimitti sang for food, gradually developing songwriting skills. Her material touched on poverty and oppression, especially as endured by Muslim women, in a style rooted in traditional raï. Her records were successful from 1952 onwards but "Charrak Gattà", which encouraged young women to lose their virginity, outraged orthodox Muslims. With Algerian independence her music was banned and she moved to France but toured Algeria where in 1971 a car crash killed three of her supporting mus...