Mahib Sleat’s ‘Eh Yakhwaty Ya Kobar’ is a Street Rap Battlefield

Mahib Sleat is a Cairo-based producer and multi-instrumentalist who has built a reputation in the underground music scene for his distinctive Arabic electronica, often blending mahragant and hip-hop cuts to deliver trance-inducing productions.

However, on his latest offering - an album titled ‘Eh Yakhwaty Ya Kobar’ featuring over 15 collaborators, made up of up-and-coming and established regional musicians and rappers - the independent artist appears in a whole new form. Though it’s slightly unconventional to his established sonic terrain, it is a mature and exceptionally well-produced sound.

The album consists of 13 tracks that juggles multiple styles and sounds, from trap and drill to mahragant, metal and EDM, all packed with aggressive guest verses and gritty beats with heavily chopped auto-tuned vocals, resulting in something that feels straight out of a street rap battlefield.

The title track, an autobiographical journey of the underdog, features Ali Svvvge and hfrompartyscrape’s off-beat bars gliding effortlessly over a blend of ominous synth pads, creeping basslines and industrial-tinged trap drums. But as we move to the next track, ‘Ana 3ayz El De3f x2’, Mahib samples grungy metal cuts from the likes of Nirvana, Cannibal Corpse, and All Shall Perish into the production, delivering a dark drill sound that perfectly complements the aggressive bars Dokhan lays out with a commanding delivery that resembles early Ziad Zaza. Meanwhile, on ‘Darba Ghasheema’, Shady Volt delivers rapid-fire, confrontational verses in complex rhyme schemes, an Arabic punchy rip of the real Slim Shady style.

The sonic landscape shifts towards the end of the album, particularly on tracks like ‘M7md El Seeny’, ‘Eh El Lezom’, featuring Hussin Mustafa. On the former, there is an addition of traditional zheng-like arrangements, which is a common Chinese plucked string instrument, while the latter’s production is more of an experimental version of trap, featuring elements from bass music and pop.

Alexandria-born indie artist DjuDju appears on the closing track, ‘Mogamlat’, lending her feathery vocals and emotive lyrics to a blend of UK garage, jungle aesthetics and pop, intersected with fragments of atmospheric textures, which is a surprising sign-off to a record that is inherently rap at its core.