Egypt is not the first place people think of when it comes to contemporary music. With most of its tourism focused on its history, its future is often overlooked. This includes its vibrant arts and contemporary music scene. However, Egypt has gigs and musicians aplenty waiting for you to tune in.
The New Egyptian Scene
Much of Egypt’s dance and electronic music resides in the capital, Cairo. The underground scene here is still thriving, and it started as all great scenes do. Friends who liked the same music began hanging out in bedrooms and apartments, spinning their favourite records. Producer Ahmed El Ghazoly and his friend Rama were at the forefront of this, and they began to film the sets played and put them online.
This scene also allowed them to play music that was not typically commercial. With the Cairo population having a marginal disposable income, clubs in the country are still expensive affairs. This limitation helped it evolve into a mash-up of styles: Egyptian at the core but blended with hip-hop, breakbeats, and techno.
Unfortunately, as Cairo is quite isolated geographically and it remains expensive for musicians to travel abroad, the scene has remained localised. This means that even on the world stage, new genres such as Egyptrance have remained relatively unheard of outside of the country.
Gigs in Egypt
The great pyramids are a sight everyone wants to behold when they visit Egypt. The wonders of the ancient world have a great allure for modern audiences. Its iconography is used in everything from cinema to literature and even modern casino games like the Eye of Horus slot. Based on the hieroglyphics of the sky god, this game has welcome bonuses and potential big wins for lovers of ancient Egyptian themes.
A similar vibe can be found at the Zamna festival, one of the biggest in Egypt. Here the backdrop is the real pyramids themselves which blend with nature and electronic music. This year it will include artists like Other electronic music festivals include the Sandbox Festival. The festival’s 2025 lineup includes artists like Alyssa & Gia and Baloo, showing the growing popularity of genres like Egyptrance.
Egyptian Electronic Musicians
Belal Ali is probably Egypt’s most famous musical export. A producer and sound designer, he was originally the frontman of an indie outfit named Portrait Avenue. He has now expanded his outfit to a trio, that flits across genre and soundscapes effortlessly in a bid to create some of the most mood-lifting music in global electronica.
Donia Shohdy is a pivotal figure in Egypt’s music scene. Based in Cairo, she is the organizer of the JellyZone event series. Her sets are intense affairs, with little let-up and wall-to-wall uptempo beats. If you can’t catch her live while in the country, then you may be able to find her radio shows online.
When you visit Egypt, you can expect a totally different vibe from its gigs and musicians. They are much more relaxed than those in the United Kingdom and the US. This may be down to the searing heat, or the countries proximity to the beautiful coasts and deserts. It is an experience that is waiting for you, along with all the sights Egypt has always had to offer.
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