Deana Hassanein - AKA Mohamed Ramadan’s number one Spotify listener and serial Oka & Ortega stan - took the MO4 office by storm when she walked in and enchanted us all with her Egyptian charisma and English slang. Following a hectic five-hour long flight from London whereby a toddler incessantly drooled on her shoulder, Hassanein sat down on our office swing and spilled the tea on her life and her UK-based radio show AAAZT, ‘All Arabic All The Time’.
School teacher turned radio show host and presenter-slash-producer, Hassanein is a Politics and Economics grad whose upbringing in Surrey, England was consistently enshrouded in Arabic songs, yet equally lacking in much needed ethnic representation. Media doesn’t sleep and neither did the budding presenter when she actively paved paths for her and her Arab identity to flourish in the saturated pools of Eurocentric culture. Years later and with a quaint ‘Teen Talk’ show under her belt, the music enthusiast pushed out her passion project, AAAZT.
The radio show spotlights Arab talent from all across the region, serving as a hub for North African music. Amalgamating artists from Palestine, Tunis, Algeria and Egypt (just to name a few), AAAZT funnels the region’s up-and-coming musical stars to an unfamiliar audience through Hassanein’s witty and lighthearted conversations.
