Tags: Genre, Music Genre, Topical Concept.
Shaabi (الشعبي in Arabic) is an Egyptian musical genre. It is a form of popular working-class music which evolved from baladi in the second half of the 20th century. Shaabi literally means ‘music of the people’. It originated in Cairo in the 1970s as a new form of urban music expressing the difficulties and frustrations of modern Egyptian life. Shaabi lyrics can be both intensely political and filled with humour and double entendre.