Sha’abi

cha3bi

The working class youth of Egypt reacted against light songs and shaabi music evolved out of Cairo’s poorest districts. Shaabi began entering the mainstream of Egyptian society in 1971, with the breakthrough success of Ahmed Adaweyah.. Adaweyah, by far the most popular Egyptian sha’abi singer in the history of Egyptian music, initially gained controversy for his lyrics, which were often humorous, salacious and highly critical of social rules and respectable society. By the 1980s, shaabi was being influenced by music from the United Kingdom and United States, as well as other Egyptian pop stars. Electric guitars, synthesizers, and later beat boxes, were integrated into the music, which is now highly-polished and meant for mainstream consumption. Today, the most popular shaabi stars are Hakeem and Shaaban Abdel Rahim.

AlMawwal

Improvised vocals used in Egyptian “shaabi” music, the toast of Cairo’s working class neighborhoods. AlMawwal lets the singer show off storytelling abilities and street smarts. AlMawwal is a non-metric vocal improvisation on a colloquial poetry text of 4 to 7 lines. It can be sung with an instrumental accompaniment (usually a qanun or oud) or without, and is used as a means to demonstrate the singer’s virtuosity. The singer has complete freedom to modulate to different maqamat. During a Mawwal the accompanying musicians follow the singer’s lead, and summarize each phrase after the singer has performed it (called tarjama, literally translation). AlMawwal is often preceded by a doulab or a short taqsim to introduce the maqam.