Another World to Conquer for Khaled : Pop music: Having won over French and Japanese audiences, the exponent of Algerian <i> rai</i> will make his American debut at UCLA on Sunday.

Algerian-born Cheb Khaled is an old hand at breaking down pop language barriers.

The first test for the ebullient star of rai music, who makes his American debut at the “World Music Day” concert at UCLA on Sunday, came five years ago when he won over French audiences unfamiliar with Arabic. Bridging that cultural chasm was nothing compared to his first encounter with the reputedly reserved audiences in Japan.

“I didn’t know what to expect but I was absolutely flabbergasted by the sight of the Japanese people dancing all over the place,” an animated Khaled, 31, explained in French through an interpreter during a recent visit to Los Angeles. “They were in tune with it--even the French promoter was saying, ‘I’ve never seen the Japanese dance this way.’

“I’m hoping that Americans will accept me that way. Rai is magical.”

The UCLA performance, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Perloff Quad, kicks off a five-city North American tour sponsored by the French government to promote increased awareness of the nation’s music industry. In addition to Khaled, who has lived in Paris since 1987, the lineup includes the Gypsy group Bratsch and Guinean “electro-griot” Mory Kante, who had a big European chart and dance-club hit with “Yeke Yeke” four years ago.

Khaled, who also appears with his seven-piece backing band at Vertigo on Monday, was born and raised in the Algerian port of Oran, the birthplace of rai music. His early influences were split between the Western and Islamic music worlds--the Beatles, jazz and Elvis Presley as well as the legendary Egyptian vocalist Oum Koulsoum and the near-trance music of a Moroccan folklore group Khaled heard at age 12. He embarked on a full-fledged music career at 14.

The rai style resulted from the adaptation of traditional Bedouin music to the urban atmosphere of Oran in the 1940s. The original sound associated revolved around spare arrangements featuring vocals, reed instruments and the derbouka drum, and its lyrics aroused controversy by addressing earthy lyrical themes. Khaled, who released his first two singles in 1975, rebelled against the practice of couching those lyrics in elaborate metaphors.

“ Rai really represented the music of the poor,” said Khaled. “I felt the time had come where the music represented the traditional way of not talking about anything that is taboo.

“I took some of those old lyrics that were poetic and completely changed them into today’s way of saying things and adding new instruments--keyboard, electric guitar, bass--into it. The message is almost the same as the old rai --the way to deliver it is different.”

That new delivery revitalized rai as an underground, rebel music in Algeria and spawned a school of young, “pop rai “ artists. It also brought performers like Khaled into disfavor with the government--he could record and release his music but was ignored by the national media until the government organized a rai festival in Oran in 1985 that gave Khaled and his compatriots their first live national television exposure.

Rai ‘s swirling melodies began attracting attention in world music circles soon after Khaled moved to Paris. He has recorded more than 330 songs, but only a handful have been released here. Most of his recordings come out on cassettes in the French/Algerian market, where Khaled estimates his hard-core audience guarantees sales of 100,000 on any new release.

He will be testing that following’s tolerance for experimentation with his next project. His plans include incorporating gospel musicians and New Orleans horn players into the Algerian style and enlisting arrangers--like hot producer Don Was--with access to the latest studio technology.

“Don Was was presented with 16 new songs that are totally, completely different as far as tone and rhythm but still 100% rai music,” said Khaled. “When Was listened to the (demo tape) of the songs he said, ‘What the hell do you want me to rearrange? It’s already perfect the way it is.’ ”