While some know him as ‘Taher Taher’ or ‘Falafel on A Waffle’, others know him simply as ‘Tي’.
Taher Taher is one of the more experienced figures of Egyptian hip hop – writing for himself and other artists, producing, engineering, and performing. Taher’s style stands out from the scene, offering a more Western lens of the art or, as he likes to describe it, “uncontrolled, challenging art.”
Now, Taher has kicked things up a notch further with his ‘SHARE33AREF’ music video – an aesthetically pleasing and interesting piece of work that pushes the limits of music video art here in Egypt. With ‘SHARE33AREF’, Taher has dropped one of the ‘hottest’ music videos we’ve seen in a while – and for good reason. Ferrarris and flashing lights, a dystopian city of which Taher Taher seems to be the King, beautiful women and cameos from the likes of Ahmed El Fishawy and TattooTwon all combine to produce one epic visual.
The video was shot at WOMBTECH STUDIOS, unfunded and produced with no executive backing. Despite this, it was shot entirely in virtual production, using one of the biggest LED virtual production screens, second only to Disney’s in California. ‘SHARE33AREF’ is Taher staking his flag into the scene, conquering the city with bars like “this city is mine for the taking.” The braggadocious nature of the song and the luxurious visual elements of the video symbolize Taher’s confidence in his music. Aside from this, Taher is flippant about broaching subject matter that most rappers would not even dream of discussing. Raw by nature, Taher’s entire persona revolves around pushing the envelope. Regarding the production, producer Ohpei managed to create a trap-drill fusion while maintaining that signature Egyptian sound with the sagat and tabla.
‘SHARE33AAREF’ is a part of Taher’s exhilarating “365 of 365” challenge, where he releases a track every single day for an entire year. This journey began in December 2021. Since then, Taher has kept his word, releasing 54 songs to date – and counting. If you haven’t heard of Taher until now, you may have at the very least come across the imagery of an Arabized version of the middle-fingered gesture – a middle finger folded down instead of stuck up. Though this may be audacious for some, it may allude to more than what meets the eye.
Coming from an American/Egyptian background, blending two cultures in one is a recurring theme in Taher’s music. Taher has implemented this mentality even for the artwork, which pays homage to press photos taken for legendary jazz musician Miles Davis’ 1986 album Tutu. These photos, taken by photographer Irving Penn, showed Miles Davis’ hands contorted as though he were playing the trumpet. One of these photos is, as you may have guessed, Miles Davis folding his middle finger down in a note – which also happens to be the Egyptian gestural version of ‘f*** you’.
Taher Taher’s genius doesn’t stop there. In the spirit of combining both his Egyptian and American backgrounds, his Instagram handle is a combination of both countries’ most famous breakfast items, ‘@falafelonawaffle’ (falafel on a waffle).
With the provocative artwork, the bold promise of releasing a track everyday for a year, and his daring lyrics, Taher has certainly gone beyond the limitations of others’ expectations. Yet thus far, he hasn’t failed to impress, and despite what anyone may think about his music, it can’t be said that the hardworking artist is one to back down from a challenge. It is certainly exciting to see where Taher goes with the journey and what we can expect from him.
