Culture | From El-Salam to the world

Egypt’s authorities want to crack down on mahraganat

But the working-class music will not be stifled

FILE - In this Thursday, March 5, 2015 file photo, youth dance at a local wedding in Salam City, a suburb on the outskirts of Cairo. Since the 2011 uprising, the music of "Mahraganat," Arabic for "festivals," has emerged from and spread through impoverished communities, where local musicians play, especially during weddings, their auto-tuned beats and songs that tackle social, political and cultural issues. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

Jul 14th 2022|CAIRO

As they navigate the narrow streets of Cairo, tuk-tuk drivers blast mahraganat from their speakers. The music’s sound is distinctive: the Egyptian ri’ (tambourine) and tabla (drum) are combined with electronic beats, and performers both sing and rap. For a while mahraganat—meaning “festivals”—was enjoyed mainly by the working classes and tolerated by the authorities. Now that it is more widely popular, officials are trying to silence it.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “From El-Salam to the world”