Shortly before heading to the Olympia Theatre in Paris in May, 2009, Khaled, the “king of rai music,” was relaxing in his suite at the George V Hotel. Banning Eyre was among those who got a chance to have a short, pre-show chat. Khaled had driven from his home in Luxembourg, and was preparing to take the stage in Paris for the first time in a decade. He spoke a little about his new album, “Liberté,” and also about his upcoming November 2009 concert in Las Vegas, Sahra. The Sahra event will also feature Assala of Syria, Rida Al-Abdulla of Iraq, and many others. [Click here for more on Sahra, November 21, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas!] Here’s a transcript of the conversation that day. Banning Eyre: Khaled, what brings you to Paris today? B.E.: And not just any concert, right? 
B.E.: The Olympia is quite a special theater in history. Many great African stars have played their first European breakthrough concert at this theater. What does the Olympia mean to you? There's a story about the old Olympia that one hears in France. Back when the Beatles were not really all that well known yet, they were playing the first part of the show for Shayla, a very famous French singer. They were eventually very, very well-known in the 60s, but at this time, the French threw tomatoes at them. And since that day, they never played in the hall again. In fact I'm not even sure they ever played in France. And now, just two months ago, we had Paul McCartney here to play his first show. There’s been Santana, there's been Stevie Wonder. Everybody knows this hall. All world stars know the Olympia. B.E.: So this concert is to launch your new album, am I right?  And also I have the song itself that is called “Liberté.” This is a song I sang when I was young, so people are really glad to hear it. It is a reprise. Because we in Algeria, the one thing that really bothered us was that we had to do military service, two years of military service. I suffered for 20 years because of that, and I didn't go. It's a dream for a young person from North Africa to go to France as a young man. For me this was another dream. They used to say, “Two years of suffering, and the rest in France.” Because the Eiffel Tower represented freedom. Every teenager was dreaming of the day that he is released and he's going to be able to go away. B.E.: I want to ask you about this concert that's going to be happening in Las Vegas, at the MGM Grand Hotel. What does this concert mean to you? And also, I'm one of those artists who took part in a tour after September 11. I did a tour that was called Khaled and Friends. That is to say that I brought some musicians from Paris and also United States to show that music has no racism. Music is only about friendship. There are no borders. And it gave me great pleasure to be joined on the stage in San Francisco by Carlos Santana, and in Detroit by Don Was. I also had the chance to be heard, and enjoyed by a public that was not just Muslims. And beyond that, when I had the chance to present my group at the end of the concert, there were Muslims, Christians, Jews, Bahai, and even people who believe in nothing. It was a party. La fi-es-ta!  One of my policies, and what Islam has taught me, is that when I die, I am going to go into my grave. I will be alone. Nobody will come with me. And I will have to answer for my actions alone. No one will be there to defend me. And no one will be there to defend whether I did evil or good. And so that's my policy. I believe that people were made on this earth to know each other, and to live together, beyond color, beyond race. That's my message. And that's how I believe that people should be together in this world. Once they are out of this world, then it's a matter between them and God alone. And I cannot interfere. I respect that there are artists who have a harder messages. I respect other things. Maybe it doesn't please me, but I respect it. I live in democracy. My God loves me because he gave me this music that speaks of how good things can be. It speaks of love, and above all of liberty. That is to say in my Algeria, when I was young, a man was only supposed to go with a woman to procreate. Otherwise it's diabolical. Something of the devil. But I mixed the rai with the rock 'n roll. It's the same history. Rai and rock 'n roll. It's the same story. Rock 'n roll—that came out of the blues and jazz. Black music. Out of the suffering and misery of that history. It’s to say we want to live. It's beautiful. There was a little white guy called Elvis. He made a little salsa (mixture) out of rock 'n roll and brought it out of the sidelines. As if to say, “We are in a world where there is a little space, a little opening. We are advancing. We are not going backwards.” And he was attacked, because these are the people who upset everything, when you start talking about love. That bothers them. So people said, "Don't listen to this rock 'n roll music because people dance with their haunches." They marginalized it. With us in Algeria, this music also bothered people. Because I danced a little bit like Elvis. Normally. Rai had belonged to the cheikhs, that is to say the peasants. It was a little bit like the blacks, Africans, and jazz and blues. With us, it was the flute, the gasba. A guy will make a flute from bamboo, put in six holes, and play it. And he sings with his sheep. Shepherds. And then people suffered through colonialism. There is that too. And then there was the forced military service to go fight the war of strangers. All that went into rai. After rai, in my generation, the 50s and 60s, people who had been singing in bordellas were now singing in public places. And what is beautiful, and what I remarked upon often, is that the older poets had been colonized. But they sang both languages. They were colonized. But they were not racists. There is a song. It says, "I am sick. And I have a fever. I think about love a lot. I cry." That is to say, this poet wants to share with the people who live around him. He wants to share music with you.  We used to live in a very hypocritical society. In fact, rai was not broadcast either on official radio or television. It was sung in whore houses or various places, but you could not listen to it and family reunions. Why? Because people believe that rai praised women and praised love, and that is something that we should not listen to. And then there came a time around 1977, or 78 when James Brown put out "Sex Machine.” That song was played on radio and television in Algeria. [LAUGHS] And the next day, people were singing, "Sex machine!" Because they did not understand English. A journalist came to me and said, "Khaled, you can profit from this now." I told him that I sing about love, without taboo. And beyond that, I do not denude women. But if “Sex Machine” can be played on the radio, why not rai? They don't even talk about a woman. They talk about a gazelle, about nature. I was the only one to sing directly. B.E.: That's great history, Khaled. Thanks so much for that. Then I’ll ask you one more question about this concert coming up in Las Vegas. Because I know it's being organized to coincide with international Children's Day. It's going to benefit children in the Middle East and North Africa. You are a father yourself, with three daughters. And I was a child once myself too. Don't forget that. [LAUGHS] For me, everyone who concerns themselves with the humanity of children, that touches me. Because I passed a terrible childhood actually. I created nothing but misery at home. I was known in all the police commissariats. Everywhere. It's true. [LAUGHS] So, for me, this concert, I hope that it attracts lots of people, and raises lots and lots of money to try to make one or two or three children happy in their lives. We're not asking for millions. We're just trying to do something good. I have a politic. When the good God gives you something, you must give something back as well. When you give, he gives you more. You must share. I always think this way.  A few years ago, we wanted to do this thing with Quincy Jones. I was very happy. It was going to be a follow-up to "We Are the World." It was "We Are the Future." But unfortunately, there were political problems and there was not enough cooperation to make it happen. Politicians involved themselves and it never saw the light of day. It was a big, big, big idea on the part of Mr. Quincy Jones. He actually staged it in Rome, Italy, and I was present. The position that he was taking was that there are children in suffering in black Africa. They are being armed and used as soldiers. This is a big, big, big problem. The world has to think about this. People have to know. To think about this a little. They don't think much about fundamentalism. [Integrism] Fundamentalism is big man who has no brains. The reason I see no brains because these people end up gorging the lives of children. That is not human. That is not human. When they talk about the rights of their religion, I am in agreement. There are many people in the world who demand their rights. My god. Their goal is good. People want to support them. But the fact of talking about children, as you've asked me this question, hides many things. We hide many things. We are hypocrites in many ways. I am not Jesus. I am not Mohamed. I'm not a person with a magic wand. But I can pass on my little words, and I can make people laugh. I think this is the way. We must talk. We must laugh. The message passes better that way. It doesn't pass through brutality. No way. If you have lots of money, well, there's no problem. It's better. The cameraman: You came of age in a political situation in Algeria that was very different than today. Is that part of what motivated you?  But the point is, my childhood was all bad. But at the same time, what was bad is that I lost a lot. I lost many friends. I lost many friends. I don’t even know how many people in my family refused to do their military service. They were in the desert. They were starting to play with their guns, like that. Because they couldn't go out at night. They were afraid of the night. I refused to do my military service. And I saw this. I grew up. I saw people who threw away all their money and spent their life in prison. But these were rules I could not obey. Because I saw that I would win nothing. I would end up drinking alcohol, a lot a lot a lot. I saw people who became alcoholics and died, without doing anything with their lives. It was not good. And I saw this. I learned. I started smoking when I was young. I lived right next to the Moroccan border. I grew up with drugs, cannabis. I could smoke in tranquility. Human nature cannot be forbidden. When you forbid something, human nature is going to do it. You have to look at the spirit of people. There are these religious people who are good people. They've made their hadj to Mecca. They are wise. They can speak the koran in French. But there is not a person, not even grand Mufti, who can forbid alcohol among Muslims. There is not. They say avoid it, but they can never forbid it. Because they know that men cannot forbid these things. Look at Holland. Cannabis is legal. You can buy it in the coffee shops. You can buy it freely. But statistically, they have not seen that there any more problems with AIDS, with anything… Because look at the world. The big dealers, they sell drugs and no one touches them. This is something I learned when I was young. So these are some of lessons that I did get from the street, not from school. To summarize, we are all Adam's children. And God created Adam in His image, and He made he beautiful and intelligent, and He had all the angels kneel before him, and they gave him intelligence, and when Adam was bored, then He gave him a woman, Eve. Adam had everything you could hope for. But he was told not to touch one single Apple. And when he was told not to do that, then that's when he did it. So this is basically the lesson I'm trying to give you. We were betrayed for a $.10 apple. It’s crazy, man. 
B.E.: Khaled, you are going to perform in Las Vegas with other great artists from the Arab world, Assala of Syria and Rida Al Abdulla of Iraq. Tell us what it means for you to share the stage with these artists. B.E.: Martin, you made your first album with Khaled in 1986, right? A long time back. B.E.: And you haven't worked with him since? 
B.E.: I remember. That was also the week when Khaled was about to start a US tour. B.E: That's unusual. Nobody does that anymore. B.E.: And improvised as well. 
B.E.: So tell me a little more about the songs on the album. Are these new compositions he brought to the studio? Or are there things that were created in the studio? B.E.: You talk about capturing the live feeling of this band. I recognize some of these guys. The core of this band goes way back, doesn't it? B.E.: Really? Somehow he was just never there when the recording happened? 
B.E.: I think you are right. The feeling of that band is excellent. They are slamming. B.E.: But that sophistication is not coming from some outside producer giving them ideas. It's just in the character of the music, right? B.E.: How long have you known Khaled? 
B.E.: Violin? B.E.: I remember him telling us about how he became interested in technology and some of his musicians were angry at him because he was using machines instead of hiring them. B.E.: I imagine that things were more open then in Algeria than what they have been since, right? 
B.E.: He left Algeria soon after that, didn't he? B.E.: And that was when you made Kutchie? Khaled & Martin Meissonnier: 2009Interview by Banning Eyre Paris, France,2009 B.E.: That was a one-time experience. Not to be repeated, I imagine. Thanks so much for taking a minute And good luck with Seun Kuti’s new album. We can’t wait to hear it. 
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