Shaabi ( arz, شعبي'' '' ) is an Egyptian

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

. It is a form of popular working-class music which evolved from Egyptian Baladi in the second half of the 20th century, it's the core of Egyptian people music in streets and weddings and every day Egyptian life. Shaabi means "of the people", specifically "locally popular". It originated in Cairo from the 1920s to the 1940s, as in certain songs and themes of composer

Sayyid Darwish Sayed Darwish ( ar, سيد درويش, ; 17 March 1892 – 15 September 1923) was an Egyptian singer and composer who was considered the father of Egyptian popular music and one of Egypt's greatest musicians and seen by some as its single gre ...

, and from the 1940s to 1960s by mawwal singers Abu Dira and Anwar al-Askari and in songs by Shafiq Gallal, Mohamed abd el-Motleb, Mohamed el-Ezzabi and others. One of the most famous and global Egyptian Shaabi songs is "Shik Shak Shok", a creation of the prominent Egyptian musician

Hassan Abou El Seoud Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

. It became also known outside of Egypt ever since the 1970s and even gained some global fame. It is considered as a form of the local urban music expressing the difficulties and frustrations of modern lower-class Egyptian life. Shaabi singers predating the 1970s often sang other genres, such as religious music, love songs, and even nationalist songs. As migration to the cities increased, certain neighborhoods were identified as shaabi, and the musicians were known in their own locales. Shaabi lyrics can be both intensely political, and filled with humour and double entendre. Because of its nature as street music, and widespread indifference to copyright law among Egyptians, Shaabi today is mainly distributed on pirated tapes and CDs. The first shaabi singer to rise to stardom was Adaweyah, whose first album in 1972 sold a million copies. Like many shaabi singers, Adaweyah was famed for his mawwal. More recently, Shaaban Abdel Rahim rose to fame in 2000 with the controversial "Ana Bakrah Israel" ("I hate Israel"), and has remained something of a working-class hero due to a string of populist political hits. Other well-known singers in the shaabi genre include

Saad El Soghayer Saad or Sa'ad may also refer to: *Saad (name), people carrying the name or surname *Sa'ad, a kibbutz in the Negev desert in Israel *Saad Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football club * Saad SC, an Iraqi football club *Saad Specialist Hospital, in Khobar ...

, Amina, and

Abdelbaset Hamouda ʻAbd al-Bāsiṭ (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الباسط) is a male Muslim given name. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Bāsiṭ'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names ...

. Another notable singer is Hakim, who is from a middle-class background unlike most shaabi singers, and whose commercially successful brand of shaabi-pop is generally cheerful and apolitical.

Mahraganat

The most recent new development to come out of Cairo's Shaabi scene is ' mahraganat' ('festivals'; ar, مهرجانات ) music, also known as 'electro-shaabi' in the West. However the performers use ''mahraganat'' (meaning a big, loud, messy event; and a festival) to distinguish themselves from ''sha'bi'',. The best-known artists in this genre are Hamo Bika,

Oka Wi Ortega Oka or OKA may refer to: Cars * Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ * OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA Military * 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled morta ...

, Sadat, Figo, Alaa 50 Cent, Shahta Karika, and Islam Chipsy.Ali Abdel Mohsen, “A Q & A with Leading Mahraganat Singer Sadat.” Egypt Independent (April 13, 2013) http://www.egyptindependent.com/qa-leading-mahraganat-singer-sadat/ (accessed August 20, 2018)

Mahraganat

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Further reading