Egyptian rapper Dareen is a whirlwind of sharp verses and curly hair on stage, bringing Cairo audiences to their toes and providing a brand new perspective on Egypt’s male-dominated rap scene.
Her raps move over eclectic beats, impressed by her childhood in Alexandria, the coastal metropolis that’s house to a lot of Egypt’s greatest rap stars, together with the massively in style Wegz, a male rapper on the rise following a 2022 World Cup look in Qatar.
In Alexandria “we make artwork, however in Cairo it is a complete business,” 21-year-old Dareen instructed AFP, her shiny pink nails poking out of fingerless leather-based gloves.
And the sector is booming. In 2022, Wegz was probably the most streamed Arab artist within the Center East and North Africa on the music platform Spotify.
“Rap’s impression could be seen in our charts, our collected knowledge and in all main cultural occasions,” mentioned Mark Abou Jaoude, Spotify’s Head of Music for the Center East, North Africa and South Asia.
Final 12 months, 60 % of probably the most streamed Arab artists on Spotify have been from the hip-hop style, which additionally consists of rap.
“We’re additionally witnessing an rising variety of rap artists touring Europe and america, which serves as proof of how followers world wide, together with diaspora communities, are connecting with the style,” Abou Jaoude mentioned.
For a very long time, Egyptian rap “had an underground standing”, based on music researcher Amr Abdelrahim.
However now social gathering boats on Cairo’s Nile carrying Wegz are taking pictures by the Egyptian capital, and rappers are getting multinational promoting offers.
“The professionalization of their craft has influenced the best way they make music and the verses they write, but in addition their desires,” says Abdelrahim.
“That is the primary era that sees their elders making some huge cash rapping.”
And the style’s feminine artists – out of the highlight for years – are vying for a bit of that success.
Dareen’s personal track Leila, by which she talks about her disappointment with fellow artists, has been seen nearly 180,000 instances on YouTube.
Whereas Cairo’s lineups more and more function feminine rappers donning trendy streetwear for larger-than-life performances, there’s nonetheless a category divide to bridge.
– Masculinity, energy, cash –
Removed from the African-American working-class communities the place rap was born half a century in the past, the Egyptian model and its viewers are nonetheless “on the margins, as a result of they belong to the center and higher courses, whereas ‘Mahraganat’ is rather more in style “. mentioned Abdelrahim.
Extremely in style in Egypt, the place it is called ‘electro-shaabi’, Mahraganat has develop into a musical shorthand for the expression of Egypt’s youth.
“You simply should stroll round Cairo” to listen to it, Abdelrahim mentioned.
In “all of the tuk-tuks, all of the outlets, what you hear” is Mahraganat, with its mixture of synthesized beats, conventional devices and blunt lyrics that commemorate masculinity, energy and cash.
A straightforward inventive alternative for the rising ladies in rap is to mimic that very same machismo, however their lyrics appear to forged a wider internet.
In her newest album “Kawabes,” or nightmares in Arabic, Dareen raps about “the melancholy and temper swings” that “observe breakups.”
She steps off stage to loud applause and says she desires to speak about ‘all the pieces’, uncensored, even her most susceptible moments.
However rapping as a girl is an uphill battle on a number of fronts.
– ‘Not taken critically’ –
“Claiming our freedom as rappers is tough, each from our households and from society,” Dareen mentioned, including that the business is “removed from peaceable” and onerous on ladies.
“We aren’t taken critically, they suppose now we have no issues when it’s fairly the alternative, particularly right here in Egypt the place we’re compelled to take care of intimidation and fixed obstacles.”
Egypt’s conservative, deeply patriarchal society implies that most girls draw back from professions which can be within the public eye.
And within the macho world of rap, “to evolve, it’s important to go to the identical locations, to combine into the networks of artists and producers, an completely male world,” mentioned Abdelrahim.
Though increasingly more ladies are within the highlight of the style, they primarily come from the prosperous strata of Egyptian society.
In accordance with Abdelrahim, nearly all feminine rappers come from the higher class, the place women and girls typically get pleasure from extra freedom with much less worry of social stigma.
“You possibly can see extra social range within the male rap scene,” Abdelrahim mentioned, the place artists fireplace insults at individuals from privileged upbringings versus their very own working-class backgrounds.
Their feminine counterparts, in the meantime, stroll a tightrope between the braggadocio of rap and the modesty society calls for, sidestepping the sexuality of American hip-hop totally.
“Adopting an overtly sexual femininity” — like feminine rap stars Cardi B or Megan Thee Stallion — “shouldn’t be potential” if the artists need to be seen as worthy of respect, Abdelrahim mentioned.
“As a result of finally they’re judged by each society and their households.”
