Aïcha

“Aïcha” is the 1996 single from Algerian artist Khaled and was written by French singer and songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. The original French single was never released in an album, although the version by Khaled which featured both French and Arabic was on his 1996 album, “Sahra”, with the bilingual version of the song being written by Khaled.

“Aïcha” falls under the raï genre of music, a type of Algerian folk music that originates from the 1920’s. The song’s lyrics details a man in love with a woman called “Aïcha”, who Khaled promises to give pearls, poetry, jewels and many other romantic items. In the song, Aïcha responds to these claims with this statement:

“Keep your treasures
I want more than all that
Bars are bars, even if made of gold
I want the same rights as you
And respect for each day
I don’t want anything but love”

The music video for “Aïcha” was directed by Sarah Moon, and was released in 1996. The video shows a woman dancing around a stage and doing cartwheels, while Khaled performs the song directly to the camera. The video was uploaded to Khaled’s YouTube video in August 2016, and as of late November 2020, the video has 47.1 million views and 316 thousand likes.

Release Date: 1996

Songwriter/s: Jean-Jacques Goldman & Khaled

Producer: Jean-Jacques Goldman

Label: PolyGram & Capitol Music France

Music Video Release Date: 1996

Music Video Director: Sarah Moon

Chart Rankings & Certifications: In its year of release, “Aïcha” charted at:

– #25 & #1 in Belgium
– #10 on the Dutch Top 40
– #1 on the French SNEP Singles Chart
– #33 on the German Singles Chart
– #11 on the Swiss Singles Chart

“Aïcha” has received Diamond certification in France.

The lyrics to “Aïcha” can be found here: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/aicha-aisha.html

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/28ztjHIXceRRntmTUfnmUX?si=r0dIjxqPRQyZtReoXggUVQ

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/khaled/384924