Stepping away from his usual bad-boy persona, Abo El Anwar gets pretty emotional on the new music video for his new track ’Mashy’, produced in collaboration with Lil Baba, and in a way we rarely see from egyptian rappers, gets really real about heartbreak, the pressures of being a performing artist and how that strains real life relationships.
The half-sappy-half-heartfelt music video takes place in a very downtrodden scene of a rowdy party. Yet, rather than seeing Abo El Anwar engage in the festivities, he seems alone, separated from the rest of the party goers by a tangible cloud of sadness.
Lil Baba shines on the production with a melancholy, guitar-led beat that fuses somber melodics with UK Drill inspired drums and percussion to meld well with Abo El Anwar’s vocal stylings. Perhaps the autotune may be cranked a little too high on ‘Mashy’, but overall the entire production comes through quite nicely.
Despite a somewhat awkward delivery it’s very refreshing to see a rapper near the top of his game dial things down and focus on a subject matter that's a bit more approachable and resonant. Here’s hoping we see Abo El Anwar continue this journey of introspection.
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