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Born and raised in Shubra El-Kheima, a bustling Nile metropolis on the edge of Cairo, Elkotsh got
his first taste of shaabi music at local wedding parties, where he’d take charge of the mic,
performing with a team of dancers. The genre emerged in the 1920s in Cairo, where it quickly
became the soundtrack to working class life, a way for urban Egyptians to vent their frustrations
or sardonically deconstruct day-to-day realities. And when electro-shaabi, or mahraganat (an
Arabic word meaning celebrations), materialized in the early ’00s, fusing classic shaabi elements
with ideas gleaned from reggaetón, hip-hop, techno and grime, Elkostsh knew immediately that
he’d found his niche.

Weight 6 oz
Dimensions 13 × 13 × 1 in
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