Page 12 - Issue 41

ELITE Vol.1, Issue 41, March 2022

Marwan Pablo “El Fenomeno”

Menna-t-Allah Hossam Enan - Level 2 - Economics

menatallah.annan2020@feps.edu.eg

'El Fenomeno', a nickname given to Brazilian
footballer, Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, by the
Italian press as a symbol of admiration for his qualities
on the pitch. The English translation of the term is
'phenomenon' which is used generally to describe an
extraordinary person.
That is why, I think that with the amount of influence
he has had over the Egyptian rap scene, it is safe to say
that we can call Marwan Pablo “El Fenomeno” of
Egyptian rap. Dubbed by the VICE Media and himself
as "Egypt's Godfather of Trap", Pablo is considered Many people including Marwan himself consider his
one of the most important voices of the new generation
of trap/hip-hop musical scene in Egypt. He has also “Dama” era to be an experimental phase. Initially, he
managed to achieve various milestones in his relatively was just a rap fan, but little by little, he started to
short career. practice how to write rap tracks correctly and how to
In the Egyptian rap scene, Pablo is viewed as one of the make beats and produce his own tracks. Marwan
giants, where he has managed to gain the respect of the confessed that his skills at that time were very basic
old MCs as well as the new ones. He played a huge and underdeveloped.
role in taking the rap genre from the underground scene Dama VS Pablo: Civil War
to mainstream. So, let’s go on a journey to understand This phase continued till Marwan - as per his words -
more about the enigma that is Marwan Ahmed decided to “kill” Dama and was able to come back
Metawea, or as he is publicly known, Marwan Pablo. stronger as “Marwan Pablo” in one of his most iconic
Dama: The Force Awakens tracks “El Gholaf X Ozoris” in late 2017. Where he
Marwan first started making music in 2015, under the chose the name "Marwan Pablo" in reference to both
moniker "Dama". He was 19 at the time and has said in Pablo Escobar and Pablo Picasso as he later reveals in
multiple interviews that he struggled between finding his single 'Free'.
the time to practice his hobby, which is making music, In this single, Marwan revealed that he had decided to
and his education. Most of his first released tracks were rediscover himself and that what people had seen
written and produced solely by himself. during his time as “Dama” was just a cover to the book

that is “Marwan Pablo”.
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