The Indie Music Revolution in Egypt

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One of the most impressive outcomes of the Mubarak’s ouster is the materialization and the surge of Indie bands in Egypt. While most mainstream pop singers chose to support the regime and attack the protesters, many the indie bands took part of the protests around Egypt. They entertained the protesters, and wrote songs for the revolution and the fallen. Pop singers had much to lose if they defied the regime, so those singers alienated many of their fans due to the singers’ disconnect with the people. Now with Mubarak and his corrupt officials with their tight control over the media is out forever, Egyptians have been listening to a great deal of independent musicians who have a lot to say and now for the first time in generations were offered the platform to do just that. Many of them offer a great deal of fresh and bold music. For those singers and their bands, the whole world is their stage, many tune in to get inspired. They sing for Egypt, Tunisian, Libya and Palestine, but most of all they sing about real issues that touches people’s lives. On the upside, music is not longer a one man show, it’s more democratic now, it has always taken a band to bring a hit, now we get to know their names.

In the past music producers had no interest in such bands with various political and social messages that can bring producers headaches with the authority. Such music were also rarely played on TV and those singers were denied opportunity to take part of various music festivals at home. Taking on serious issues in Egypt was never popular with the elite in power. There is also one more reason indie bands are having the time of their lives in post Mubarak Egypt. Such bands can take risks, they do not have to worry about sales as much as singers of the likeloser Tamer Hosny. So they can put out an album and not worry too much about sales and ring tones income. Independent music costs nickles and dimes to producer and market, they do not require giant billboards, they are organic this way.

Perhaps one of the sings of the growth of such bands is the collaboration between Pepsi and Cairokee in a commercial about expressing oneself–drinking Pepsi products of course. Prior to this collaboration Amr Diab and Tamer Hosny were the faces of Pepsi in Egypt and the Arab World. Watch the upbeat commercial here

I feel that for the first time Egyptians are enjoying real live music, none of that karaoke cookie cutter pop junk. There’s a real value on stimulating music, that goes beyond “I Love Your Eyes, Yours Can Only See You…etc.” And there are a lot more venues for independent musicians made available for concerts. Here are few of the Egyptian independent bands that have been busy entering the new Egypt.
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