Music In Contemporary Egypt

Music plays an extremely important role in one’s daily life, no matter what culture background you belong to or where a person is from it is one of the most popular elements of entertainment. There are many genres of music and the difference in generations creates different tastes in music. In Egypt, most of they elderly people admire old artists from the 1940’s-1980’s such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Fareed El Atrash, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and Om Kolthoom. Elderly people usually refuse to listen to newly emerging music trends or singers and when they do they call it “low class” and “pointless” beats and voice. On the other hand, the youth are more prone to modern music but they are not a whole bunch who listen to the same singer or like the same lyrics they are divided into two social sectors which are low and middle-high class. In every socio-economical class there is a a favorite genre of music and some times there are some singers that stand out and become heard by both classes usually for notoriety reasons. The lower classes usually enjoy listening to sad tunes and lyrics that are about friends betraying each other , about the betrayal of life, or about being lonely using mainly “vulgar” sentences in comparison to the higher classes but these are their normal way of talking in their everyday lives. Thus, the music a lower class person listens to usually reflects the environment he/ she lives in, reflects the way they talk, and problems and miseries in their daily lives mostly family matters, economical crisis, and issues concerning the harshness on the government on people who do not have the power. Such songs are usually sang by people like Sa’ad El Soghayar, Shaaban Abdel Rahim, And Rico who used to live live in such communities and face the same problems and unfairness of the government.
As for the middle and high classes they tend to listen to love songs, songs where a lover is hurt or one party left the other and that reflects the problems they face and the love stories they live. The middle class usually listen to songs of a broken heart person due to not being able to marry the loved one because of economical reasons. Not only that, some of the high and middle classes listen to national songs which are usually sang by their favorite singers as middle and high classes are more aware than the lower classes about problems happening in the middle east. They listen mainly to Amr Diab, Moustafa Amar, Sherine, and Hisham Abbas. There is a common foundation between the three classes but mainly in the lower and the middle which is the “video Clip” phenomenon where men sit with each other on Cafés with satellites and comment about Haifa new breasts implants or Elissa's’. Men of these classes usually criticize their women about their wight and their looks in general as a solution women tend as well to watch those clips and try to imitate what they see blindly. There were as a result many cases of divorce due to men’s sexual frustration from their women in comparison to women like Haifa, Nancy, Elissa, and Dana. Therefore, music plays an integral role in people’s lives as it reflects their contemporary realities and the problems that every class in the Egyptian society faces.
Music that the lower classes listen to reflect their daily lives perfectly. For example one of the most popular singer who made their way to grab the attention of higher classes is Sha'ban Abdel Riheem. Sha'ban put the energy he had towards Israel in a simple song where he said it bluntly “I hate Israel”. Not only that, when expressing love he said “ I love you, you donkey” which is not acceptable and rarely used in higher classes. He used the words that a person from an uneducated background and a lower class would use and understand which made him so popular ( Gordon 5). Not only Sha'ban, three years later launched a singer called Sa'ad el Soghayar was courageous enough to say in a song “ Not every woman that wears a revealing top is a chick”. Such words are not common or not said bluntly in higher societies in contrast with the lower classes where this is the way a male would tease a female. Those classes are mainly composed of Cab drivers, micro bus drivers, barbers, iron-men, and mechanics who enjoy listening to simple words that describes the current situations they are in and expresses their anger peacefully. When it comes to love songs in the lower classes the lyrics are mainly about hurt as a result of not being able to be with the loved one. That reflects the economic crises the lower classes are facing in Egypt because of the low wages they take. As a result, the songs about blame appear where the loved one is forced to marry another from a higher class with lyrics like “ I will not blame you or hurt you, you have always been immoral”. When those people listen to music from the higher class like for example a documentary was made by an Egyptian director called sheriff el Adma where he interviewed a micro bus driver making him listen to Moustafa Amar a singer that usually upper classes listen to he listened for about five seconds and could not help laughing which shows how classes in Egypt are not related to each other unlike in the past where music was a common background for all Egyptians as a unit. Such songs are as well an implication of the high amount of illiteracy in Egypt as the words chosen for the songs seem meaningful and effective to its listeners regardless of the horrible tunes used in them showing that they do not have an educated taste of music they just use it as an anger release strategy. Thus, music as a pop-culture that the lower class Egyptians created after the so-called “golden age of music” that used to be the unity of all Egyptians is one that reflects their feelings of sarcasm and anger towards higher classes, shows their deteriorating economic status, the increasing rate of illiteracy, and fragmentation of the Egyptian society in a whole.
The middle and higher classes are somehow near each other when it comes to the taste of music. they usually go or work in places that gives them the chance to listen to a wider varitey of music and pick what suites and speaks out for them. Middle and higher classes of people usually listen to love songs for example those of Amr Diab, Hisham Abbas, and Moustafa Amar whom as well sing hurt

Jay-Z : A Master Occult Wisdom?

Link: http://npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112998783

Title of Feature: Jay-Z : A Master Occult Wisdom?

Who produced the Feature: Not Available

Length of the Feature: 7 min, 6 sec

Describe Feature:
The idea of the feature Jay-z: A master of occult wisdom is somehow the upstaging of Dan Brown’s new novel the lost symbol over Jay-z’s new record “run this town”. It has been known that Jay-z has been rapping about freemasonry and the occult for a while now and his old songs are a proof of that. People concerned with the issue have stated that Jay-z “ dabbles in the occult and that his new video “run this town” only conforms it”. Mitch Horowitz an American author stated that, Jay-z is using symbols of mystery religion and the reason Horowitz said that was because the use of the temple imagery and some other symbols such as posing his hands in the shape of a triangle in his video. In the part where Jay-z starts to rap there is a clear indication of the occult which is saying the phrase “Peace God” and that is an allusion of a mystery religion “ the five percenters”. The Five Percenters is a religion where the black man is god and all men are god. Whether Jay-z is a Five Percenter or not is a question only Jay-z can answer but because of the many jesters and some specific words in the video it is clear that he is connected someway to that environment of mystery religion.
After discussing the video Horowitz states that he does not think that Jay-z is part of a secret society. Horowitz also adds that Jay-z is a very shrewd man and an excellent observer as people who know about the five percenters and its teachings are people who are strongly aware of what is going on. Jay-z, as Horowitz stated, is an observer with great talent of expression.

Was the feature interesting?
Getting to know new vocabulary from the “rap” world was very interesting to me. Although I am a big fan of Hip Hop and Rnb music, I have never heard the word “occult” before. Through research I found out that it was a very popular word and that it meant “ knowledge that must be kept hidden”. As for those who practice it, it means the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences. However, the feature was a little bit boring as there were only two people talking the announcer and Mitch Horowitz. If I would to do this story I would have interviewed more people with different views about “the occult” or at least twisted the topic and find more angles to it.

Quality of Sound/ Nat Sound:
Using bits and pieces of the track “run this town” was very influential at times. for example the part where Jay-z started to rap and used the phrase “Peace God” proved a point Horowitz was stating. However, there were parts of the story where putting the song as a NAT sound was very distracting, unimportant, and unprofessional because it gave the impression of a transition to fill the gaps in-between the story.

Quality of the Announcer’s voice:
The announcer’s pace and voice were very compatible to the mood of the story. For example, when there was an important question the announcer voices it in a sharp tone that is noticeable like when he asked Horowitz about whether he thinks Jay-z is a part of a secret society or not. The different tone of voice gave the story some balance and fun which was something I really admired.

Was the Feature too long/ short?
For one interview the feature was long, very informative yet long as there was only the announcer and Horowitz. Not only that, the occult was the only issue tackled in the feature and it could have been a better feature if it was either shorter or if it had more interviews. Not only that, going deeper into the issue would have given the story more value and it would have been more interesting.

Link for Run This Town by Jay-z, Rihanna, and Kanye west :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVA-xTBeHyM

Winehouse Blazes Trail for U.K Female Singers

Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18789325

Title of Feature: Winehouse Blazes Trail for U.K Female Singers


Who produced the Feature: Rob Gifford

Length of the Feature: 6 min, 34 sec


Describe Feature:
Amy Winehouse the 24 year old English singer did not attend the Grammy awards in Los Angeles as her Visa got rejected by the U.S embassy. Instead Amy spent her weekend in rehab in London for her alcohol and drug addiction. That did not stop Amy from working on her art as she launched a new song called rehab which was a very successful one. It was very contradicting of her to sing such a song with lyrics that said that she will not go to rehab and afterwards she actually did. Amy was sent to rehab after being photographed in her underwear walking in the streets and doing hardcore drugs. Despite the tragedy in Amy Winehouse’s life it has been said by many music critics that “she has changed the whole landscape of British music and paved the way for a whole new generation of young female singers”. In addition to Amy Winehouse a generation of female singers has emerged including in London Adele, Duffy, Lilly Allen, Amy Macdonald, and many more. It is remarkable that most of these English female singers sing different genres of music like Jazz, blues, and folk. As stated in the article, English music is diverse in comparison to the American music. The radio of both is a measurement for that, as in the English radio you can listen to the kind of music Amy Winehouse sings and nothing would be wrong with it in contrast to America and the music that plays in their radio. At the end, it was mentioned in the article that Amy Winehouse’s fans are hoping that she surpasses the crisis she is going through. However, some say that living on the edge with such major life crises may be the reason behind Amy’s wonderful work.



Was the feature interesting?
The feature to me was more than interesting as I am a big fan of Amy Winehouse. In addition, there were many point of views in the story one of which I really found influential and credible was interviewing the music critics and how they described Amy’s music as a breakthrough. Not only that, the flow of the story was very cohesive starting with Amy going to rehab and ending with how people appreciate her music and want her out of what she has put herself into.



Quality of Sound/ Nat Sound:
The sound was one of high quality and the NAT sound was very compatible to what was being said in the story. For example, playing songs that the anchor person was talking about such as Back to Black and rehab was very influential to the story and as a listener I was curious to know more about the story and keep on listening as well.


Quality of the Announcer’s voice:
The announcer’s pace was not constant throughout the story but there were times when that change of pace was needed and suitable. Not only that, some of the words were unclear and I had to listen more than 3 times to be able to hear those words.

Was the Feature too long/ short?
The time was neither long or short as all the points that were needed to be covered were all said. Even though there was many information stated, the story was not boring and the wording of it was simple and to the point. That was clear when the announcer was giving hints about the new English singers and a simple yet influential hint about each one of them in no longer than 10 sec. all in all.


Link for the Back to Black track by Amy Winehouse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciV34UXODP0

Women Vs Women

For years and years now, women in Egypt have been contradicting themselves in terms of their relationship with their husbands. Women i Egypt always complain about the lack of communication at home as the husband comes back from work and all what he wants is to eat and sleep and refuses to talk. The husbands attitude really bothers women as they spend all their day preparing food and providing a tidy, clean, and relaxing environment for him, but at the same time when women are asked whether that the lack of comunication is the fault of the husband or the wife women always blame it on themselves. They always give their husband excuses by saying that men do all the work and have many problems at work that are more important and critical in what women go through during the day. However, that is not how they feel and it is not true as well. Women are the first to wake up in the morning, wake the kids up, get them ready for school, prepare breakfast, wake her husband up, prepare his clothes, and prepare a decent breakfast for him as well. Her job does not stop here because as soon as the family members leave the house she " turns the house upside down" and starts to clean it while at the same time the food for lunch is in the oven.
Women in Egypt got used to being treated as servants. It became an obligation for her to do everything without a simple "Thank you" in return. Not only that, it became a "new trend" for women to accept their men cheating on them and if the wife knew she would either ignore or blame it on herself and goes through a struggle within her personality and fix her flaws. Such weak attitude from the Egyptian wife plays the role of a "license" for the Egyptian man to do whatever he wants as it will always be her fault. In my opinion, women in Egypt became so weak due to any factors one of paramount importance is illetracy in addition to there is cultural dogmas about women who argue and disagree with their husbands. Thus the lack of comunication strats so women stop talking and men do as well. In addition why would a woman accept cheating over leaving her husband? that itself is considerend ignorance. Not because a woman has to adhere to her cultural beliefs means that she erases her dignity. Therefore, a soloution for this comunication problem is that the man has to give as much as he takes, a man should be more understanding, appreciative, and thankfull to his woman. A positive talk between the two parties should take place every now and then. To sum up, if the two sides worked hard to acheive a good realtionship most of the communication problems between them will be solved and thus the family as a whole will be a more bonded one because at the end of the day a successful comitment between men and women will not be acheived except through positve collaboration between the two sides.

A Day In LA

Waking up in the morning, the sun is shining and a gentle breeze is passing through from the window that’s how a day starts in LA. I go out in the balcony and there I see this nice tree with many birds that I like to watch with pleasure. They love and fight and nest in the tree. Everyday in LA is a different day one of extreme happiness, one of pain, one of loneliness, one of craziness, and one of mixed feelings all day long. Usually, I wake my friends up we take turns for using the shower then we get dressed and it is time for university. We all studied psychology classes as an exchange program in the summer in UCLA. We go to classes walking and during that walk we talk about different topics, like what will we prepare for lunch or where are we going out that night. Everyday is a different day but one that I would never forget is that day when I got two viruses and fainted and no one knew what was wrong with me. My friends took me to the medical center and there I felt really homesick I needed my parents, my sister, and my other friends. Even though two of my best friends where right there beside me I felt lonely and lost and it was as if I didn’t belong. The hardest part of that day was that I had to take two injections and the pain I felt was a kind of pain I never experienced in my whole life. I was sitting on the bed at the medical center crying after my friends had left me and went home to clean it for me. It was a very long night for me it was the only day that I spent there and wished I went back to Cairo. Many thoughts came to my mind that night I remembered my 3 dogs who died 6 years ago, I remembered my new dog and how much I miss him. I missed my mother, sister, and father so much and I really wanted to call them but I didn’t because I didn’t want them to know I was in the hospital. Two hours later I fell asleep. The sound of the birds played outside the window and woke me up but they sounded different and when I got out of bed and watched them they as well looked different I felt like an outsider for the first time there. I felt much better than the day before it was like magic. It turned out I got two viruses and MacDonald’s in Las Vegas was the reason. My friends came and took me home and I saw the most amazing thing when I entered they cleaned the house as never before and they got me the chocolate cake I like, cookies, grape juice, and a big balloon that said get well soon. I was very pleased and all the feelings of loneliness I felt the previous day were over. They took me to universal studios where I had an amazing time even though I was a bit tired. We didn’t stay there a lot but I really enjoyed the scenery there.

At night they decided they should take me to a club called highlands as it was the birthday of the protagonist of the movie slum dog millionaire and the music would be great. I was hesitant at first because I wasn’t really over the virus but I took my medicine went out and had the time of my life.
It was one of the many days we spent there where we had the time of our lives. We went home very exhausted but even though I was very energetic. We ordered dominos pizza like we do with lots of Buffalo wings ate them and slept. I even forgot I was in the hospital the day before waking up the next day listening to the birds singing and watching them on the tree out of our house and I know that the memory of that tree will never fade out of my mind neither the memory of Los Angeles.

JRMC 460

Good morning, this is aya el abnoudy ..
I'll be graduating this semester i'm a broadcasting major and a theater minor
and this is my first post