Afropop Worldwide

Is a musical revolution going on Egypt now? Perhaps. We recently covered the fall of pop stars in Egypt who, during the revolution, originally came out in support of Mumbarak, but after it was obvious that he would be ousted, changed their tune (no pun intended). Now it has been brought to our attention that indie-rock is suddenly flourishing across the country.

According to Kabobfest.com, a self-proclaimed "irreverent, activist, often-inappropriate Arab-American (and others) blog," indie-rock may have actually surpassed radio-friendly, non-political Egyptian pop music in popularity. Kabob Fest cites one example of the band Cairokee which recently penned an advertising deal with Pepsi to be including in future commercials for the soda drink along with Cairokee’s music. Prior to the revolution, Egyptian pop stars were the face of such products in Egypt.

Of course, there is the irony that indie-rock, which is short for independent rock, is now signing major deals with massive private companies but still considered “indie” in nature. Nevertheless, we are excited by this change and look forward to seeking more of it out on our historic Hip Deep trip to Egypt this summer.




You can read more about this change in the musical guard of Egypt at Kabob Fest.