Musicians Syndicate Bans Mahraganat Music in Sahel
Egypt’s Musicians Syndicate has repeatedly expressed its concern regarding the rapidly-growing genre of “mahraganat”. Famous mahragan singer, Hamo Bika, was closely monitored by the head of the Musicians Syndicate, Hany Shaker, for a long time and was officially banned from singing, failing to pass a singing exam.
This summer, Shaker has taken it upon himself to completely ban mahraganat concerts across Egypt’s North Coast. The Egyptian singer wrote an official request to the Matrouh Security Directorate to ban any so-called ‘Mahragan’ singer who is not a member of the Musicians Syndicate to perform in Sahel.
Yet, the worst was still to come for the genre’s lovers. The decision has already been made and Chairman of the Inspection and Follow-up Committee, Ali Al-Shurai, stated that the ban took place in hopes of saving Egypt’s music scene from intruders who are clueless about the arts, describing their lyrics as harmful.
