"Sidi Mansour" is a popular folkloric song from Tunisia. A number of versions of the song have been produced over recent decades. Boney M.'s "Ma Baker" was inspired by the original Tunisianfolk song. The song was made famous in 2000 when the Tunisian artist Saber Rebaï released his version. Since then, "Sidi Mansour" has been subject to many covers in Arabic and many other languages. Rebaï's "Sidi Mansour" song should not however be confused with "Sidi Mansour" by Algerian raï artist Cheikha Rimitti. Her rendition is another "Sidi Mansour" not related to the Rebaï song.
Versions prior to Saber Rebaï
The song was recorded by Mohammed Jarrari in his audio cassetteFolklore tunisien as "Sidi Mansour Baba Bahri". A version was recorded in 1975 by Mohamed Hanesh.
Saber Rebaï version
The song was made famous by Saber Rebaï when he recorded it in his same titled album Sidi Mansour released in 2000. The music is a popular tune from Tunisian traditional folklore and the lyrics were written by Sameh al Ajami. The record was produced by Hamid al Sha'iri and the very popular music video is directed by Fadi Kenaan. The song is also known as "Allah Allah, ya baba", "Sidi Mansour ", expressions used many times in the lyrics.
Other versions and samplings
The song has been subject to a huge number of interpretations by Arab and international artists and remixes by many DJs in original Arabic version and in other languages. Most notably, it became the basis for the Boney M. hit "Ma Baker" in 1977 largely based on the 1975 hit by Mohamed Hanesh. Parts of the song have also been sampled many times in other released songs in Arabic and other languages.
Arabic versions were done by Bled Runner featuring Dida Brother, by Cheb Rayan featuring Rima and a mix by Malik Adouane
"Mavişim" is a Turkis song sung by İbrahim Tatlıses using the music of "Sidi Mansour". It is found on his album Yetmez mi.
"Za Yam Maghror Laila" with the music of Sidi Mansour is a Pakistani song sung by various artists in Urdu / Pashto.
Mario Più & Mauro Picotto released the song "Arabian Pleasures" in 1999 which uses the melody of "Sidi Mansour". A vocal version was later contributed by Egyptian/Algerian singer Amal Wahby.
"Allah Allah Ne Zaman" is a Turkish song sung by Güzin and Baha using the music of "Sidi Mansour".
"Shpirti im" is an Albanian song sung by Ervis Bix using the music of "Sidi Mansour".
Se Pira Sovara
"Se Pira Sovara" is a 2004 bilingual song in Greek and Arabic by the Greek-Cypriot and Lebanese origin artist Sarbel based on Tunisian singer Saber Rebaï's Arabic song "Sidi Mansour" and became highly successful in Greece, Cyprus and throughout the Middle East. The song is the debut single by Sarbel taken from his debut albumParakseno sinesthima. The song features Greek songstress Irini Merkouri, who first introduced the young singer Sarbel to fans in Greece, but also across the Middle East. The song "Se pira sovara" was also shot as a music video. The album also contains a remixed version entitled "Se pira sovara - Sfera mix" by Nikos Nikolakopoulos.
Charts
Chart
Peak position
Greece
2
Ya Baba
"Ya Baba" is a 2016 bilingual song in English and Arabic by the Pakistani British artist Zack Knight featuring Rami Beatz. It is largely based on Tunisian singer Saber Rebaï's Arabic song "Sidi Mansour" with large samplings from the song. Zack Knight wrote the additional lyrics. It was produced by Rami Beatz and Dot Da Genius and copyrighted to Quantize Music LLC. The song was highly successful in UK's Official Asian Download Chart Top 40 published by The Official Charts reaching number 2. It stayed 13 weeks on that chart. The song also received heavy airplay in South Asian venues as well as radio stations throughout the Middle East. An Arab-themed music video was also released.
