The music industry is one of the most challenging industries in the world, as it is not easy for someone to make it big. Due to the high level of competition and the vast majority of content, upcoming artists struggle to find their spot in the kingdom of melodies.
Egypt is no different, and for some, it is considered more difficult to penetrate the Egyptian market than other markets. It is never an easy task as it requires a lot of variables, such as dedication, effort, creativity, and connections.
That being said, Egyptian artists still challenge themselves to pursue their dreams and try to step foot into the music industry, to make a name for themselves. One of these artists is Ahmad Ghoniem, who debuted his song “Papa Told Me”, which went viral on Egyptian social media.
The 24 year old artist, also known as 4N The Human said “Papa Told Me has significantly exceeded our expectations. I think the song itself is very relatable and catchy as the Egyptian youth are often suppressed by their parents. This song’s message is rebelling against parents’ demands, as an attempt to chase our own passions.”
However, the success of the song didn’t come easy, as Ghoniem stated that a lot of work was put into the video and he and his team wrote a whole story for it, each scene having purpose and being a piece to that story. He added, “Nothing was shot just to look cool.”
VIA 4N The Human
The Egyptian rap scene started to penetrate the Egyptian music industry in the early 2000’s, and one of the most famous rappers at that time were Egy Rap School, who were mostly heard by youth audiences. However, as time went by, the rap scene started to attract more and more audiences, and artists such as Marwan Pablo and Abyusif started to get more attention.
But in order to produce music, you need more than just the artist. A production team is a key element in the success or failure of any production. This is why Ghoniem gives majority of the credit to Yassin Koptan, the director and editor, who helped make the video more professional and entertaining.
“Mindfulness, self-improvement, and working hard for your goals is the message that I want to deliver. I want to motivate people to achieve their own dreams. Not just their parents’ dreams. Music is also a way for me to express myself and I like making songs that people can relate to emotionally, and maybe help them get through a tough time.” Ghoniem stated.
The Egyptian artist who is currently based in Colorado, started rapping in 2014 while in college. He was doing it mostly for fun, but he slowly started to take it seriously and he began recording his first song in 2015 and released it in the following year.
VIA 4N The Human
Since then, he started to devote all his time and energy for the sake of making it. “I have had a lot of jobs over the last few years, but recently I have been driving for Uber full time, because I can pick my own schedule and easily work around the time spent on music.” he explained.
The rapper initially moved to the US to go to college and this is where he started rapping. He aims to take his music to the global scene, and he tried to start his journey in America. But after he filmed the video in Alexandria, and the audience gave him positive feedback, it became apparent to him that he should focus on taking his music back to the homeland.
VIA Marwan Pablo
Photo taken by fotometro
This might be a risky move for some people, as they believe that doing anything out of the norm in Egypt is a difficult task, as it might receive a lot of backlash and some people do not understand the message behind it, which makes them unwilling to give it a chance.
“The underground rap scene in Egypt has started to boom over the last few years and there’s a lot of newcomers. With how trendy it has become, I believe that there is a lot of potential for Egyptian rappers to achieve success in the upcoming years. However, there is a lot of mediocrity out there, so good rappers can stand out if they put the work in,” he argued.
