We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the Middle East needs more cross-country collaborations. Artists crossing the borders of their home turfs to work with others can only benefit Arab music as a whole and while we have seen some outstanding pairings over the years, it’s never been particularly consistent.
One of the biggest potential beneficiaries is the world of rap, which has produced quite the unexpected collaboration in bringing together Egypt’s Marwan Moussa with Saudi Arabia’s AlGyadat AlOlya, aka brothers Randar and AlYoung, the latter of whom also goes by Ahmed Saddam.
Produced by Moussa, ‘Hustle’ is cut from a familiar rap cloth, one that leans on the signatures of shaabi music, as has become a trademark of the Egyptian rap scene. What’s unique is hearing Khaleeji bars on that kind of beat and the trio of rappers hop on and off seamlessly in what is an all round bubbly, toe-tapping track that sees them, of course, talk about the hustle.
The video, produced by the prolific Nojara Productions and Push Production and directed by Cairo-based Omar Donga, has a North African/Mediterranean flavour to it thanks to a colorful and chaotic street scene and an endless line of retro football shirts harking to part of the unique aesthetic that some line like Moroccan rapper, ISSAM, has cultivated in the last two or so years.
This track isn’t the peak of either party’s work, but it is a unique coming together of rappers of very different ilks, artists whose forrays out of their comfort zone, whose exposure to other sounds and scenes can only mean good things.
