7 Egyptian Underground Rappers You Really, Really Need to Know
Before Arabic hip-hop emerged as a separate genre, Arab-Americans were regularly involved in hip-hop in the United States, with people such as LA-based producer Fredwreck (Farid Karam Nassar), and Miami-based DJ Khaled.
Hip-hop music began to see popularity in the Arab World in the early 1990s, Groups began to emerge in Palestine in the mid-90s. In Egypt, hip-hop was less popular, but a small buzz in 2004 led to an emergent rap population, when the first hip-hop show took place there when the RZA, member of the Wu-Tang Clan, performed in the Siag Hotel in Cairo alongside Kinetic 9 of Killarmy. Today countless Egyptian rappers are killing the game, here are my favorites.
Arabian Knightz
Rush and Sphinx, with producer E-Money has elevated Egyptian hip-hop from being a mere copycat of a Western trend into an authentic and respectable brand of its own.
Dawsha
22-year-old Mohamed Ehab describes his life and experiences leaving no words unsaid with his spitfire rapping style and infectious flow.
MTM
They may not be underground anymore but MTM just had to be on this list as they paved the way for so many people in Egypt.
Y-crew Family
Their group was formed after a spontaneous session with German group Blumentopf delivered a tight performance in front of a large German audience, This gained them a huge following in Alexandria their hometown, they also were a part of Khaled Abo Elnaga’s Microphone movie by their song “Ehna Zahma.”
F Killa
F Killa’s lyrics are very conservative, yet have very big messages.
Deeb
Mohammed El-Deeb is known for his revolutionary, intelligent and very soulful lyrics.
Yukka Shahin “The Empress”
She criticizes her surroundings with light lyrics yet a very heavy flow. Yukka was born and raised in Alexandria which is a fertile environment for hip-hop culture.
WE SAID THIS: Let me know if I missed out on any rappers so I can check them out.
