Chercheuse d'or

Chercheuse d’or (meaning Gold Digger) is the debut album by Algerian-born French singer Assia. It was released in France on 23 May 2000, through Virgin France. Chercheuse d'or is a R&B album and incorporates elements of funk, soul and raï styles. Three singles are released from the album. It includes her first hit "Elle est à toi", "Là-bas" and "Ghir dini". It peaked at number 47 on the French charts, selling 200,000 copies.

Background
In 1995, Assia began her career as a songwriter. After released "Ghir Dini" from the soundtrack of the French film Taxi produced by IAM, she signed in Virgin France in 1999. In 2000, Chercheuse d'or becomes a national success, especially with her hit single "Elle est à toi".

Critical reception
Chercheuse d'or was met with mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom criticized the French-Arabic singing. Patrick Labesse of Le Monde tries to find an explanation for this French-Arabic mix in the article Du choix de chanter en arabe et en français. Assia continue to explain her album Chercheuse d'or is about the search for happiness : "I seek what everyone seeks, happiness! And then of course the love, not only that of a man but the universal love". When Chercheuse d'or was released, Assia thus analyzes the reception of the album in France : "Sometimes I was told that my songs sounded too Arabic, sometimes they said that I lacked exoticism. That's the reason why I'm going my own way today".

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Chercheuse d'or.


 * Assia – composer, primary artist, vocals
 * Bernard Benant – photography
 * Hamed Daye – composer, performer, primary artist
 * Julien Delfaud – mixing assistant
 * Jean-François Delort – mixing assistant
 * Xavier Derouin – acoustic guitar
 * Mustapha Ettamri – percussion
 * Djimi Finger – programming
 * Pablo Gil – artwork, logo
 * Jean-Paul Gonnod – assistant engineer
 * Christophe Guiot – violone
 * Catherine Juste – assistant engineer
 * Ken Kessie – drum programming, engineer, realization
 * Peter Maunu – acoustic guitar
 * Marlon Mclain – guitar
 * Tim Pierce – electric guitar
 * Mickaël Rangeard – engineer
 * Stéphane Reichart – engineer
 * Patrick Shevelin – drum programming
 * Travis Smith – engineer
 * Philipp Weiss – engineer, mixing