this article was writen about the newly born first and best hip hop bands in Egypt ,
The nation's top-selling youth act on why Ommi Msafra isn't about hating mothers - and other "serious messages"
MTM are young and rawwesh, the barely-out-of-their-teens boys that teenaged girls dream of - and that some adults are learning to hate. The three guys, who together form the nation's first rap act and only its second "boy band," broke into the spotlight last month as their recently released single and album Ommi Msafra (My Mom is Away) climbed the charts.
The video backing the single was number one on Melody and Mazzika, making the group a top target for cultural conservatives: "Stray Bullets Reach Our Children From Satellite Channels: Mom Is Away, Let's Party" proclaimed one magazine, which invited leading psychologists to analyze the disturbance in youth culture that produced MTM.
As critics scoff and conservatives gnash their teeth, MTM's tween members - Mikey, 22, Taki, 21, and Mahmoud, 22 - insist they're more than pop bubble gum: Sweet today, and gone tomorrow.
And whether you like it or not, they're just what your teenaged kids ordered -and they're convinced they have a serious message to deliver.
The trio may look the same to adults, but to teenagers they represent three different "styles." Mikey prefers tight, sleeveless T-shirts to "show off his muscles," as Taki puts it, and couples it with strings of beads around his neck and wrists. Taki, on the other hand, tends toward baggy T-shirts and jeans with slip-ons or sandals, while Mahmoud's favorite attire runs to T-shirts branded with football clubs' logos and sneakers.
In an exclusive interview with Egypt Today on the eve of Mahmoud's departure to start his military service last month, the boys explained that they were expecting negative reactions from the older crowd when they released their single.
"We chose Ommi Msafra for our single because we know it is metar'a'aa (crazy). It will make people talk," Taki says. And it has. "People could not see beyond the single. Many of them didn't even realize an album had been released, or didn't even bother listening to it," Mahmoud says.
By the same token, they don't want to be typecast as parent-haters on the basis of one video.
"We were not trying to insult the image of mothers. Many moms called us and said they actually liked it," Taki claims. Mahmoud points out that a close observer will notice that the mother was holding a cane and waving it while talking to her son. She was an oppressive parent, he says, and even the domestic help was happy the kids were throwing a party.
we stress the party is a clean one. We insist on not letting in any mastool (stoners)," Mahmoud says.
The band formed three years ago and has been working on its debut album ever since. All three were hip hop and R&B fans, saying it is the best medium for their message.
"We aren't singers. We like rap, and we believe it is the best medium for the serious issues we want to introduce. All the songs [from other Arabic-language acts] now are about love and longing," Taki says.
It is only here that Mikey interjects himself into the conversation: "But we can sing. We just choose not to," he declares, then goes back to twirling the little tuft of hair on his chin. Mahmoud thinks it's a shame that rap acts are popular the world over, but are just getting started in Egypt.
Taki, who writes most of the group's lyrics with the help of the two Ms, would like to make one thing clear: "We may be rappers, but we imitate nobody. Abroad, rap is about sex, drugs and violence. We use it to talk about our society as Egyptians and Arabs," he says.
Take their single Tabb Leih w'Ezzay (So why and how) for example: Welcome to the millennium, come and look at globalization There's no peace, there's a global war you and I are about to embark upon In a few days, in a few months, in a year.
(background: So why and how, and till when will we stay silent?) We have to be part of the adventure, because we understand the conspiracy.
It's obvious, we don't even need to tell you how.
(background: So why and how?)
Is MTM's a cry against oppression? Maybe. "The important thing is, Ask me about my art; find out why I've decided to sing So that my words will reach you.
Everything is obvious and clear in front of your eyes now.
Until when will you chase after the pound?
Although the lyrics may be serious, many are unwilling to look beyond the band's image, the boys complain.
"We were on this live show with [popular journalist] Emad Adib, and an older man called saying he had just switched on the television and feels he has landed on an alien planet. He commented on our gelled hair and branded T-shirts. It sounded as if we were wearing suits of armor and going for a walk in 2003. If only he took a good look at his own children, he'd probably find them wearing the same things," Mahmoud says.
With lyrics and an image unfamiliar to the local market, MTM had to shop around before finding a producer.
"We started working three years ago and put together a demo tape, which we took around to producers. We were looking for someone with a vision, someone different," Mikey says. Finally, Play contacted them.
"They took a risk, and this is what we needed: someone willing to take a risk," Taki says.
Sales figures weren't available at press time, but MTM says its album is flying off the racks.
"We were released at the end of August, at a time when all the famous singers had released their albums. From what I hear, none of the albums were doing very well, but we're apparently doing OK, alhamdulillah" Mahmoud says.
Taki says 12-16 year olds have been most responsive to their message.
"One of the best comments we heard was from a girl who called to say she never used to listen to Arabic songs until she heard us," he says.
Could it be the language they use? "We use a language all young people use," Mahmoud says. "Like when we say in Ommi Msafra: amleen siyah, which means 'creating havoc.'"
Taki points out to ya eshta (literally 'cream,' it also means OK in youth language), ya peace, ya emma. "This is the typical answer I'd get if I were really inviting friend to a party," he says.
Despite the language and the image, MTM insists there's much more to them as individuals, just as there is to other youth.
"We're not failures. Mahmoud and I are both computer science graduates with good GPAs, and Taki is in his second year in the faculty of law," Mikey says. "And many of the young people out there are just like us. They have talents and have dreams of doing a lot of things, but cannot find encouragement. Young people do think - we're a good example."
Mahmoud agrees: "We've been friends for seven years. We want young people to know that any group of good friends can come up with something good if only they put their minds to it." et
source : www.egypttoday.com
