We often like to talk about the universality of music,
but there are arguably no genres more universally enjoyed than hip-hop. In
fact, beyond appreciation for the music, one could argue that no genre has
translated around the world as seamlessly. Good rap and hip-hop is no longer confined to New York and
other pockets of the US. There are bustling, evolving scenes all across the
world, each with their own take on it, including right here in the
Middle East.
From Morocco to UAE, and everywhere in between, there
are burgeoning local scenes that are constantly evolving and honing a unique
sound. It’s something that regional streaming giant, Anghami, has picked up on,
with stats revealing that overall streams and streams-per-user of Arabic
hip-hop have been rising steadily over the last year or so. In fact, 'Arabic
Hip-Hop' was the third highest trending 'vibe' on Anghami in 2019. Not bad for
a genre that is still often demonised. Anghami responded to these insane
numbers by curating even more playlists – and the numbers speak for themselves.
A special Algerian Hip-Hop playlist, for example, was created nine months ago.
Between November 2019 and February 2020, the playlist amassed over 60,000
streams and in the following three months, that number increased by 33%. Meanwhile,
rap from Egypt and the Maghreb region as a whole racked up almost 1.5 million
streams through Anghami’s Arabic Hip-Hop tab alone. In short, the demand is
high and, thankfully, the supply is plentiful.
This got us thinking. After teaming up with Anghami to
see what music fans in the Middle East were listening to in the worlds of
dance, techno and electronic, we simply had to find out what hip-hop and rap
music is being listened to in the region, both in regards to regional and
international artists.
The results are a mixture of solid choices that will
have even the purest of hip-hop fans nodding in approval of the general
public’s taste in music, and a few curveballs that will raise more than a few
eyebrows...
TOP 20 MIDDLE EASTERN/ARABIC RAPPERS
1.
WEGZ (Egypt)
2. SHAHYN (Egypt)
3. ABYUSIF (Egypt)
4. SAM37 ALBASHA (Syria)
5. SANFARA (Tunisia)
6. ZAP THARWAT (Egypt)
7. LBENJ (Morocco)
8. MARWAN PABLO
(Egypt)
9. EL JOKER (Egypt)
10. AYOUB
AFRICANO (Morocco)
11. MOHAMED RAMADAN (Egypt)
12. MORTADHA FTITI (Tunisia)
13. DYLER (Saudi Arabia)
14. IHAB AMIR (Morocco)
15. MADD (Morocco)
16. TEAM NGOOM MASR (Egypt)
17. ELGRANDETOTO (Morocco)
18. PHOBIA ISAAC (Algeria)
19. MANAL (Morocco)
20. THE SYNAPTIK (Jordan/Palestine)
TOP 20 ARABIC HIP-HOP/RAP
SONGS
1. MARWAN PABLO - DYNAMIT
2. ABO EL ANWAR - SCOO SCOO
3. WEGZ – NOSSEIN
4. SHAHYN - SOUT BAGA3
5. WEGZ - 3ALA RAHTY
6. WEGZ & SAVAGE PLUG - ASYAD EL BALAD
7. SHAHYN – ELVARANDA
8. MARWAN MOUSSA - SHERATON
9. WEGZ – ATM
10. ZAP THARWAT - LAW TESMA3INY (HUDZ REMIX)
11. MUSLIM - CABALLERO
12. SHAHYN - EED HOON
13. MUSLIM - MY LADY
14. WEGZ - EL ZAR
15. WEGZ - HOREYA
16. WEGZ - KAN NEFSY
17. ABYUSIF FT. ABO EL ANWAR - BASHA E3TEMED
18. DADJU FT. KALY, SOOKLING & AYMANE SERHANI - DADJU
19. MORTADHA FTITI - RAYDA
TOP 20 INTERNATIONAL RAPPERS
1. POST MALONE
2. EMINEM
3. DRAKE
4. TRAVIS SCOTT
5. XXXTENTACION
6. RUSS
7. TYGA
8. NF
9. FUTURE
10. LIL NAS X
11. TEKASHI 6IX9INE
12. A BOGGIE WIT DA HODDIE
13. NICKI MINAJ
14. JUICE WRLD
15. FRENCH MONTANA
16. RODDY RICCH
17. SAINT JHN
18. Y2K & BBNO$
19. LIL UZI VERT
20. KANYE WEST
TOP 20 INTERNATIONAL
RAP SONGS
1. Y2K & BBNO$ - LALALA
2. TRAVIS SCOTT - HIGHEST IN THE ROOM
3. RODDY RICCH
- THE BOX
4. TREVOR DANIEL – FALLING
5. TYGA - AYY MACARENA
6. POST MALONE FT. FUTURE & HALSEY - DIE FOR ME
7. LIL NAS X - OLD TOWN ROAD
8. EMINEM FT. JUICE WRLD – GODZILLA
9. ARIZONA ZERVAS – ROXANNE
10. POST MALONE -
HOLLYWOOD'S BLEEDING
11. POST MALONE - CIRCLES
12. POST MALONE FT. 21 SAVAGE - ROCKSTAR
13. DRAKE FT. RICK ROSS - MONEY IN THE GRAVE
14. TENTACION - CHANGES
15. RUSS - PSYCHO, PT. 2
16. POST MALONE FT. YOUNG THUGGOODBYES
17. RILÈS - SHOULD I
18. DON TOLIVER - NO IDEA
19. POST MALONE - WOW
20. HIPPIE SABOTAGE - DEVIL EYES
Check out more music on Anghami.
