Cairo’s Underground Music Scene: A Fusion of History, Culture, and Sound

Cairo hums. People are inherently connected to the spiritual practice of music - singing, dancing, and how music makes them feel alive and connected to something greater than life. It’s a place where ancient traditions meet modern chaos, and music is the heartbeat of its people. From the echoes of the call to prayer drifting through the streets to the pulse of underground electronic beats in dimly lit clubs, music in Egypt is more than just entertainment - it’s identity, expression, and community.

Join us as we step into Cairo’s underground music movement, where local producers blend folk melodies with techno beats, record shops serve as cultural hubs, and a new generation of artists fight to connect Egypt’s evolving sounds with the global electronic music community.

Cairo’s Soundscape: A City Where Music is Everywhere

Despite its dusty film across the city, crumbling facades, constant cars honking in the streets, exhaust fumes, cables hanging from the buildings, in what feels like the wild wild east, the developing country has a raw unfiltered chaos. From Yellow Tape Records, to Arabic Pop on the radio, and traditional instruments playing at restaurants, we hear sounds of the culture everywhere.

The Arab Spring’s Lasting Impact on Egypt’s Music Culture

The history of Egypt is a not so distant past, with the Arab Spring, the people experienced an economic crisis, and a new government ruled by the military. In the streets you see military vehicles stationed in every neighborhood, which at first was alarming. We thought: maybe because of the traffic they need to have remote offices to protect the people. There are metal detectors and Xray machines before you enter most buildings and subways. We could sense there was recent turmoil.

The Arab Spring flared in 2011, and in some countries the tensions remain with civil wars. Egypt was a part of the political uprisings. The country protested in Tahrir Square which led to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power. People demanded free elections and an end to authoritarian rule. High unemployment, rising food prices, and wealth inequality fueled anger. Protesters fought against government repression and censorship.

The Sounds of Egypt: From Mahraganat to Arabic Pop

Although the streets are sensory overload, there is such a comfort behind closed doors. Shut the door to a taxi and you hear Eslam Kabonga on the radio. An Egyptian artist known for producing music primarily in the Mahraganat genre, a vibrant blend of electronic music and hip-hop that originated in Egypt. His work also encompasses elements of Khaleeji, Egyptian pop, and Egyptian hip-hop. Mahraganat, emerging in the mid-2000s, is characterized by its upbeat tempo, electronic beats, and lyrics often addressing social and political themes.

Traditional Meets Modern: Instruments and Influences in Egyptian Music

You sit down for a Turkish style coffee, smoke shisha, nibble on Basbousa, and there’s a belly dancer and an Oud - a fretless, pear-shaped string instrument, similar to a lute. People in restaurants are singing along to the lyrics achieving nirvana status. There’s something about these songs, the way they pull people in, transport them. They know all the lyrics to Wael Jassar songs, loving every note. The genre is Arabic pop and Arabic classical music. His style blends traditional Tarab which is a deeply emotional, classical Arabic music genre with modern Middle Eastern pop influences. His songs often feature orchestral arrangements, poetic lyrics, and emotional vocal delivery.

One of my personal favorites is Amr Diab who is known for pioneering the "Mediterranean Sound," a fusion of Arabic pop, electronic dance music (EDM), and Western pop influences. His music blends Egyptian and Middle Eastern rhythms with elements of reggae, flamenco, and R&B.

Beyond the Pyramids: Exploring Cairo’s Underground Music Scene

Amidst the modern polished glamour of the Grand Egyptian Museum and tourist destinations such as the Pyramids of Giza, there is an unfiltered energy of the streets. We’re not here for the museums, so we break away from the hustle and bustle and duck into the neighborhood of Maadi - for a record shop. The doorway into the people behind the Cairo underground music sounds of a shifting culture.

They have music producers that mix local folk sounds with techno, breakbeats, or experimental club music. Artists such as Hassan Abou Alam and Zuli experiment with MENA sounds in electronic formats. Underground electronic artists like Mehdi M, Ismail Hosny, and Ramez are pushing a new identity for Egyptian music. You hear it in the chords, the traditional instrumentation and melodies.

Artists like ZULI, Hassan Abou Alam, and Ismael experimented with sounds that reflected the chaos, frustration, and hope of post-revolution Egypt.

While western house and techno music inspires the sounds of Cairo’s underground scene, they still have their infusion of traditional sounds.

How Cairo’s Underground Scene Connects to the Global Club Culture

Egypt’s history is not just Pharaohs and pyramids. It’s not some distant past. It's a revolution. It’s Arab Spring. It’s a people who have fought for change and found themselves in the aftermath, navigating the economic struggles, the contradictions of modernity and tradition. Officially, Egypt is still deeply Muslim, but behind closed doors, the picture is more complex.

Artistic expression and democracy are intertwined - and this is how music enters the chat. Counterculture is important, so we must be careful when exploring these underground scenes and how it can relate to their freedom of expression.

Despite economic hardships in the country, the underground electronic music movement can thrive. A place for community, education, and culture.

Challenges and Triumphs: Building a Music Community in Egypt

When we sat down with Yellow Tape Records, the leading community center for underground house and techno music, we talked shop. How did this scene start? Where is it going? The people here are plugged into a network that stretches across the MENA region of Bahrain, Saudi, Morocco. They swap records, ideas, sounds. They want to bridge the gap between Cairo and Europe’s club culture. But it’s not easy. Getting records into Egypt is a nightmare, high shipping costs, insane import duties.

“Anytime someone wants to sell their records, they bring them to Yellow Tape Records, we sell them and it's a way for us to build a collection together as a community,” says Hazem Hossam, the founder of Yellow Tape Records. Yet, the hunger for connection is there. They want to learn. Grow. Be part of something bigger.

The Egyptian producers were inspired by international DJs coming to Egypt back then and now they are getting inspired by the local cultures and sounds of Egypt. The Egyptian sounds are coming back into the production.” - Nour Fahmy, DJ

“Electronic music with Egyptian sounds is a novel thing and it sets the Arab producers apart because they can use something that comes naturally to them in their productions.” - Mira Amin, DJ

They are greatly inspired by European house and techno music, and have a great desire to collaborate and build bridges between the two scenes, so let’s dive into how we can connect and build our electronic music community across continents.

Bridging Continents: How We Can Support and Connect with Cairo’s Artists

With every country I visit, I’m learning that each collective has something in common with everyone of us, and it's very beautiful to align on key qualities that are the basis of why we are so passionate about music, and they have varying motivations. In Egypt they want to connect with the rest of the world, to grow and expand their local music education with music from other places.

The MENA region, for all its complexities, has one thing nailed down: hospitality. The kind that makes you feel like family within minutes. The same stranger who gives you directions with a warm smile might try to overcharge you at the market five minutes later. It’s a paradox. A rollercoaster. But that’s what makes this place unforgettable. Egypt’s history, the glories, the struggles, the revolutions shapes everything. Music here isn’t just entertainment. It’s survival. It’s a fight to be heard. And that, in the end, is something universal.