Always upbeat, often aggressive, sometimes chaotic. Egypt’s 3enba is a veritable hit-maker, his music touching something deep in the core of an Egyptian population that continues to be under the spell of mahraganat.
For his latest release, however - a surprise collaboration with rap producer Lil Baba - he changes things up with a mahraganat/hip-hop fusion track that was released with little-to-no fanfare. Lil Baba is neck-deep in the rap scene and his instrumentals speak for themselves and in ‘Batal’, El Mexic’s mainstay producer lays down a hard beat for 3enaba to hop on, one that gives him ample room to combine his own style with 3enba’s usual sounds to create a perfectly fitting instrumental. Making use of long 808s that fill up the body of the track with some slide licks, which are accompanied by synths that hint at a kind-of Turkish or Persian sound and ethereal vocals, as the main melodies and eastern percussion complete this hot-pot of sounds.
