I first heard Parisien du Nord on a flight to Saudi Arabia and was captivated by the marriage of French hip-hop rhythms to the soulful Arabic vocals of Mami. Imagine my delight on buying the album to discover that almost every track is an example of stunningly accomplished genre fusion, and ALL tracks are beautiful in their own right. Mami weaves his heartbreaking tenor in and out of the music, with complete command over 3 octaves, venturing into territory one would not expect an Arab artiste to go, e.g. the reggae of Hatachi and the floorfilling bagpipery of Azwaw, with tinges of Andalusia along the way. Although dubious on paper, musically the result is astounding. The title track, the shimmering violins on Hada Ch'hal and the sweeping anthemic rai of Bekatni are especial favourites of mine, not to mention Parisien du Nord, Mami's tribute to the disaffected Algerian immigrants of St Denis, which went to Number One in France. NB Tracks 12 & 13 are remixes of track 10 Azwaw, that is why they sound the same [see previous review].