Egypt’s 200 Shams Gives ‘Hbeeny Shwaya’ ft Dirty Backseat Disco Rework

On 200 Shams’ August-released sophomore album, Kalmeeni, Khaleeni Ashrahlek, track three, 'Hbeeny Shwaya’, stood out for featuring friend, collaborator and fellow co-founder of Cairo-based label SLOVVDK, Dirty Backseat.

It’s a glitch-gotten, funk-filled track with a retro slant, a toe-tapper leaning into melancholy that speaks of the experimental producer’s shift from previous EP, Leela Fil-Disko.

It all lends itself quite nicely to disco and so the idea of 200 Shams reworking it as such makes sense. There’s something quite unique about it beyond that, though; it arguably find as much inspiration in Arab pop, Dirty Backseat’s vocals in particular reminding of the likes of Hameed Shaery.Which version is better? Now, that’s a question - one we’ll let you answer.