Faudel, the "Little Prince of Rai", burst on the scene with Baïda in 1997. The young singer offers his own rai revolution, mixing dance beats with the Maghrebi percussion on "Anti" and the massive French hit "Tellement N'Brick" (both the original and hip-hop versions), in addition to throwing in raps, flamenco ("Omri") and the outright rai-pop of "Dis-Moi". Like Khaled from an earlier generation, Faudel brings plenty of new ideas to the tradition and his high, still … mehryouthful voice has the kind of appeal to cross generations, equally at home on the Algerian sounds of the title track or the emotional ballad "La Valse". Hip, sometimes edgy, but retaining a strong respect for the foundations of rai, Baïda marks Faudel as a star of the genre. --Chris Nickson weniger