Around a month and a half ago, rising Egyptian artist Afifi, a member of indie-funk band Butternotes, took to Instagram to announce a self-imposed challenge: to create a solo EP from scratch in only 45 days. As he explained then, this challenge was his way of overcoming his habit of overthinking - a persistent hurdle that had prevented him from releasing new music for years.
Every day since, he documented his creative process, sharing a candid firsthand account of the technical and mental struggles musicians often face during music production. He compromised his own comfort to meet the deadline he had set. His 45-day journey of self-discovery, resistance and genuine bursts of inspiration gave birth to a versatile six-track Arabic pop album, titled ‘45 Youm’, which is almost entirely composed, produced and written by himself in his bedroom.
“We, as creatives, are always caught in the loop of overthinking. This often hampers our ability to complete a project due to lingering doubts like, ‘Is this good enough?’ or ‘Does this truly sound like me?’,” Afifi tells SceneNoise. “I decided to document the process and share it on Instagram for two reasons: one is to not give my brain an escape, putting it ‘Odam el amr el wake3’ as we say. The second is to show people the demanding nature - both physically and mentally - of the music creation process for an artist.”
Having grown up playing classical and Latin music before delving into jazz, blues and funk with his band, Afifi’s musical repertoire is as diverse as it can get. His latest album is tangible proof of that. Although on the surface it might appear to be pretty pop-ish, there are a multitude of funky undertones and contemporary electronic and bossa nova influences.
While Arabic songwriting was a new endeavour to Afifi, the lyrical depth present throughout the album resists the superficial and cliched tones often found in mainstream pop songs. “I choose to write in Arabic because I felt the need to get in deeper touch with my identity,” Afifi explains. “Despite facing creative blocks due to my lack of experience with this writing style, I found my way through it. I approached the writing process as if I were confiding in a friend - starting with a mess that I would then gradually refine.”
The album serves as a canvas for Afifi’s self-exploration, with each track revealing a different aspect of his personality through intricate metaphor and symbolism. ‘Lon W Etnein’, for instance, explores seizing control of his intrusive thoughts, pushing himself, as a creative, out of his comfort zone, and breaking free from fixated mindsets or ‘colours’ as he referred to it. Meanwhile, on ‘Kalam Elnas’, a collaborative project with Jimi Elgohary and Aly Kaliouby, he reflects on his inner struggles with the fear of failing to resonate with audiences or conforming to their tastes.
In the opening track, ‘Tare2’, which is the first he penned for the record, Afifi uses the metaphor of a road to depict his album-creation journey, whilst also highlighting how everyone is going through something of their own - a path that, though is different from him, it’s equally as long and rocky.
‘El Le3ba’, a fresh groovy minimal track peppered with catchy hooks, is almost like a motivational letter Afifi wrote for himself as a reminder to never give up on his dreams, and approach life with the same carefree spirit of a child playing a video game.
For the album’s outro, ‘Fe Youm Hala2eeky’, Afifi took a different, more electronic approach to the production, collaborating with Noubi and Zein-Al Arfeen, to craft a new sound, blending elements of traditional sufi music with techno influences.
