DJ Phil Battiekh launches the Cairo Concepts compilation series with 3Phaz’s unsettling take on Egypt’s Mahraganat with ‘Phazbaz’

, 6 June 2019
video

The Cairo Concepts compilation was released on May 15, with a follow-up music video for 3Phaz‘s ‘Phazbaz’ premiering on AQNB today. Curated by Mahraganat DJ Phil Battiekh, the album features club producers like DJ Plead and DJ Haram, alongside Egyptian artists Nustaliga, Alaa 50 and others, working in the rhythm driven, bass and autotune-heavy sound from Egypt.

The style that mixes popular chaabi wedding music and electronic dance is part of a growing subculture in the northeast African and Middle-Eastern country that Swiss-based Battiekh chronicles in this first Cairo Concepts compilation in a series. Meanwhile, 3Phaz adds an eerie aesthetic of bass and distortion to his Mahraganat deconstructions, while visual artist Niculin Barandun contributes visuals via generative CGI overlays on an unsettling scene of public revelry.**

The Cairo Concepts was released on May 15, 2019.