5amaseen, Goubi & JO6A Collide At Full Speed on ‘El Af3a’

Having developed a percussive, textured production style that takes influences from a wide range of genres, Egyptian Venice-based producer 5amaseen expands his repertoire by delving into a corner of alternative rap laced with his trademark syncopated sound. Teaming up with Egyptian alt-rap artists Goubi and JO6A, the three artists collide at full speed on their latest double-single drop: 'El Af3a'.

Released through SAWNA Records, the track opens scattered, with a handful of rhythmic elements not yet interlocked, while chopped-up vocal fragments keep time in the background, filling the spaces the percussion leaves open. A clap pattern then comes in to hold the beat together until further breaks arrive to round out the groove, the structure building in stages rather than landing all at once.

Goubi comes in deadpan, his delivery low-key but authoritative, running ahead of the beat's shifting patterns without losing his footing. JO6A takes the opposite angle: more sardonic in tone, delivering a more aggressive energy with his vocal pushed through pitch effects that warp and stretch against Goubi's straighter, quicker run. The contrast between the two artists' energies over 5amaseen's unrelenting beat results in a driving, high-energy track.

Closing out the release is 'El Af3a (Be5 Redub)', which takes that same energy and lets it unwind. The percussion thins out considerably, breaks and claps giving way to a slower, more spacious arrangement, while the low end swells into a heavy, hypnotic sub-bass that sits at the center of the mix rather than driving underneath it.