Egyptian rap of the Arab Spring was banned in Egypt but is now featuring on the Disney+ show, Moon Knight.
Moon Knight is directed by Mohamed Diab, the Egyptian director behind Cairo 678 who has included the most transformative soundscape for the show with a genre of music that is completely banned in Egypt.
The genre of Egyptian rap is called mahraganat and it features shop electronic beats with autotuned lyrics in street slang.
Diab appeared on the Binge Worthy podcast and said he wanted to show the reality of his country: “One challenge that was very important for me was how to portray Egypt,”
“Because we’re always seen in a way that is very orientalist, always seen in a way that is very stereotypical.”
Diab seems to have done just that, playing a song from Hassan Shakosh, a mahraganat rapper who is banned in Egypt, in the third episode of the show.
Moon Knight has given the censored musicians in Egypt a mainstream platform to find wider audiences.
More to come.
