The heart of chaabi is the 'mandole' - an Algerian instrument that looks a bit like a long, oval-shaped guitar with up to twelve strings. It was invented in Algiers in the 1930s by an instrument maker who wanted a louder version of the small lute that was already popular. Today, the mandole is the signature sound of chaabi.
Chaabi songs tell stories. They might be about love, friendship, missing your mother, the smell of the sea, or the feeling of going home. The most famous chaabi singer of all time, El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka, was so well-known in Algiers that streets, schools and an entire metro station are named after him.
A chaabi performance is something special. The singer sits in the middle, with a small group of musicians around them - mandole, lute, hand drums, sometimes a violin. The room goes quiet. The song starts slowly and builds. By the end, the whole caf茅 is gently swaying and tapping along together. People leave humming.
Chaabi has stayed popular for over 100 years. Young Algerian musicians today still learn it from older masters - and they update it too, adding new songs about modern life. The mandole shop in the Algiers Casbah where the instrument was first made is still there, and still making mandoles by hand.