Egypt’s Unique Sound: The Political Economy of Mahraganat Dance Music
This episode touches on the origins of Egyptian mahraganat music, a popular electro-street music, as well as discusses song production, media technologies, political dimensions, and distribution, both local and transnational. This episode will also look at the importance of Egyptian ashwaiyyat, or informal neighborhoods, as a formative environment for its artists.
Mahraganat music is a wholly unique Egyptian popular street music that has increasingly gained in popularity over the last decade or so, not just in Egypt but within the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the entire world. However, this music and its artists faced heavy state censorship and crackdowns. This podcast will appeal to fans of electronic alternative music, hip hop, or people concerned with issues related to state security, respectability politics, and political economy. Surrounding this will be discussions on the political economy of this music, including its production and dissemination, both local and transnational, as well as the environment from which this music emerged. The so-called slums, or informal neighborhoods of Egypt, are the birthplace of Mahraganat, but they are not merely the birthplace of this music and its artists. Rather, they are an integral part of the music’s political economy and a formative place for its artists.
Dalia Ibraheem is an anthropology PhD candidate at Rutgers University. She works on the political economy of mahraganat music in Egypt in relation to mobility and affect. Her research interests include popular culture, sports, nationalism, regimes of mobility, youth and aspirations, and anthropology of the state.
