Hadj M'rizek

Born Jan 1, 1912 · Algiers, Algeria

Hadj M'rizek (in Arabic: الحاج مريزق), whose real name is Arezki Chaïb, born in 1912 in the Casbah of Algiers in a Kabyle family and died on February 12, 1955 in Algiers, is an Algerian singer of Hawzi and Algerian Chaâbi. Hadj M'rizek became interested in music thanks to his half-brother, a show organizer. He followed the performances of the stars of the time like Mustapha Nador. He did a classical musical apprenticeship (tar, derbouka) then his favorite instrument became the alto mandolin, called demi-mandole. He learned the great texts of popular poetry and worked on different types of songs, starting with the Hawzi before moving on to the Chaâbi. M'rizek had "artistic qualities such as clarity of verbal expression and his innate sense of rhythm". He was the first artist to succeed in taking Chaâbi out of the Casbah of Algiers. He became the star of the casbah in 1929 and participated in festivals in Dellys, Cherchell and in the M'zab in Algeria. His fame reached metropolitan France where he recorded several 78 rpm records. In 1937, he made his pilgrimage to Mecca. He became vice-president of the Mouloudia Club Algiers. In 1951, he gave a concert with Lili Boniche and recorded the title El Mouloudia, which would be his biggest hit. Hadj M'rizek died on February 12, 1955, heis buried in the El Kettar cemetery in Algiers.