Sunday, May 25, 2014

mahraganat fatty: Hamboullah

There is a side to Egypt's mahraganat (electro shaabi) scene that is not likely to be exported, or to even get much outside exposure. This guy: Hamboullah.

Why won't he? Beer belly. Balding. He doesn't look like a rock star. (Compare him say to MC Sadat.) But check it out: as of this posting, over 1.7 million views. He's popular enough in Egypt. And amazing. (Thanks to Hammer for pointing him out to me.)


2 comments:

Hammer said...

Hello Ted,

Nice, small post: befits such a little 'big' man as Hamboullah is.

You've got to check this Egyptian keyboardist (Video: http://youtu.be/ylg0Ha6XAH8). His name is Eslam 'Chipsy' El-Saeed from Al-Matariyyah district; a very popular hayy in Cairo. He works solo, or as seen here alongside a DJ (T-2 a.k.a. Samih Tito), and as part of a power-trio of electro-chaâbi team called EKK Team.

The EEK Team stands for Eslam el-Saed (A.k.a. Islam Chipsy*), Eslam Ta'Ta, and Khaled Mando. (Note: His trademark name is an advertisment for Egypt's biggest potato-chips manufacturing company, named erm, 'Chipsy' ('My Chips).

This 'genie of music' as he's often nicknamed is a freakadelic one-man show in weddings and private parties standing behind his Yamaha PSR OR-700 synthboard; which literally screams out staccato tunes that are basically, old Egyptian classics twisted out of all audial proportions into a mayhem of clashtronic sounds that can keep the dancers dancing on and on.

The label that produces him (Nashazphon: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nashazphone/171246872903072), is an Algerian-Egyptian collaboration; which also produces 'street' DJ Sardena from Egypt among a handful of other 'noise-tronica' acts.

Ted Swedenburg said...

Thanks, Hammer. I've posted previously about Islam Chipsy (search for Chipsy on my blog) and I really love him. Unfortunately some of the vids I linked to have disappeared. I did not know about the EEK team, and I'll look it up.