posted
Greetings, I'm new to this forum and wanted to introduce myself as well as make an inquiry. My name is Jim Grippo, I am a doctoral student in ethnomusicology out of Univ. of California, Santa Barbara. I am presently in Cairo, Egypt doing research on the history of modern shaabi music (basically from Mohammad al-'Ezzaby to Sha'aban 'Abd al-Rahim), if anyone has insight into this topic I would love to hear from them.
However, at the moment I'm working on an article for Transnational Broadcasting Studies journal (http://www.tbsjournal.com/), a great resource for those who haven't seen it yet, on Sha'aban's latest video clip about the Danish cartoons: "Khallasna al-Sabr Kullu." I've seen it a few times but I haven't been able to record it or download it. Does anyone have this video on their hard drive or know how I can get a copy in Egypt?
Of course, any insights into this video or Sha'aban in general would always be welcome.
Looking forward to more great postings,
Jim Grippo
Posts: 7 | From: Cairo, Egypt | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
i haven't seen this video specifically, but i've seen the others. plus i'm a fan of shabi music in general, what would you like to know?
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Where do I begin? Departing from the original topic (Shaabola's latest video): I guess one of the main obstacles in my research is trying to sift through the differences between the shaabi I'm talking about and musiqa al-shaabiyya (aka: folk music), since they both share the same root: sha'b. I know very well the differences between folk music and shaabi (let's refer to it as lawn shaabi for clarity) but some of the artists that people always mention seem to "cross-over" (and yes, of course musical genres overlap); for example, Mohammad Taha, Anwar al-'Askari, and Abdu Iskandarani (to name some). There are definitely folk elements in their music espeically those who use folk instruments (arghul, mizmar, etc.).
Where do you draw your lines? Or more specifically, What years would you place the beginning of lawn shaabi? With whom? And why?
As for Shaaban, I'm definitely interested in this idea that he is simultaneously loved and hated in Egyptian society. People tell me, "Oh he's such an embarassment," but they can sing the words to most of his songs. He's speaking to people, or for the people, and I think many of the intelligentsia are resentful because of his shaabi background/identity.
Shaban doesn't speak for the people, he speaks for money. He actually has no clue about what's going on Egypt.
Posts: 149 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Yes, it's true Shaaban's a clown in many ways and is not an activist by any stretch of the imagination - but yet he's the only one (in Egypt's mass media) saying ANYTHING of value regarding current events, if he cares about what he singing or not! His past few videos have been the most progressive examples of political commentary I've ever seen on public television.
To dismiss Shaaban as a clown is only marginally true. You risk falling into the same cultural elite group of critics that ostracized Adawiya in the late 70s early 80s.
To believe Shaaban is a clown is to risk falling into his own marketing scheme that he created for himself for protection from showing any intention.
Posts: 7 | From: Cairo, Egypt | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Is he the dude that has that I hate israel song? Something about he doesnt care if you arrest him ?
Posts: 872 | From: Sydney | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
The movie was called: "Mawatan wa Mukhbir wa Harami" (A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief). Shaaban, of course, played the Harami!
Posts: 7 | From: Cairo, Egypt | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Melati asked: "is he the dude that has that I hate israel song? Something about he doesnt care if you arrest him ?"
Yes, "Ana Bakrah Isra'il" and he still opens with that one in the nightclubs. Everyone sings along loudly.
Posts: 7 | From: Cairo, Egypt | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Melati: Is he the dude that has that I hate israel song? Something about he doesnt care if you arrest him ?
Yeah and in the same song something about hating McDonalds. Which is strange, with that psychque you'd think he'd be IVing the MickeyDees into his system.
From what I have observed, for the 5 months my husband played that song over and over again, he wolfed down alot of MickeyDees.
Kinda bizare how that song had the opposite effect. Posts: 59 | Registered: Mar 2006
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To dismiss Shaaban as a clown is only marginally true. You risk falling into the same cultural elite group of critics that ostracized Adawiya in the late 70s early 80s.
To believe Shaaban is a clown is to risk falling into his own marketing scheme that he created for himself for protection from showing any intention.
agreed, Shaaban does make provacative comments no one else has the courage to say. In that manner I am totally with him. Posts: 59 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
qanungi, I'm not one of the elite critics, I don't even like them! I like adways songs and particulary ya bint el sultan which I listen to anytime but you have asked me about the person shaban or his songs?
Shaban didn't write for himself those songs which had political views, and if you watch him in TV programmes he is definatly ignorant about basic things, when he thinks that Denmark is a name of person and road map is a name of a street in Palestine which Israel wants to take, comeon!
I'm not sure whether to blame him or blame those who bring him every now and then to laugh at hime by asking him serious question of which they know he has no knowledge about.
Perhaps you should go to the source, a guy named Islam?
Posts: 149 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I've seen Shaaban in TV interviews too, and yes he lives up to your clown description - but I still think this is part of his "performance," his characterization of himself in public. When I spoke with him he was the quintessential gentleman Egyptian; humble, soft-spoken, respectful and gracious. As soon as he got up on stage it was the Shaaban we all know and love/hate.
His "poet" is Islam Khalil - and that's good advice . . . I'm working on it!
posted
Well, he sings about ordinary life of Egyptians and current political events, which is all fine, but as for his political songs he sings only what Egyptian rulers want to hear from him. The well-known example: "Ana bakrah Israil wa ba7eb 7osnee Mobarek" 3ashan 3a2lo kebeer". Ha Ha Ha. The same for that clip about those danish cartoons. (I am really sad that the whole muslim world get angry because that f*****g provocation but thatīs another story). Anyway, his voice is bad and I donīt know why he still uses the same music in all his clips (the one from Ana bakrah Israil). But at least he sings about something else than 95% of Egyptian singers (Ya 7abeebi 2arrab leeya, ana sahraan wa banadeek bla bla bla ). Hmmm, I presume that Amr Diab has done about 200 songs in last 20 years (maybe more), how many are not about love? 2,3? El Qods de ardena (of course, "politically correct" theme for support of Palestinians), Afriqia (for championship) and anything else? I am sure you wonīt find it. And this is the most popular Egyptian singer, let alone the rest. Sha3bi music often sucks but at least itīs somehow "fresher" than most of the Egyptian mainstream music.
Posts: 653 | Registered: Sep 2003
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