Page 15 - Issue 41

ELITE Vol.1, Issue 41, March 2022

Marwan Pablo: Homecoming Shortly after the concert, the Egyptian Musicians'

Thus, it wasn’t surprising to see how people were Syndicate banned Pablo from performing because of
hungry for even the smallest hint that he might be Shabjdeed's -a rapper who performed with Pablo at
coming back, to the extent that coming up with the concert- actions during the concert, which
absurd hints that led to the conclusion that he might included changing the lyrics of a popular religious
be coming back became a trending meme on all social chant by Sayed Al Naqshabandi to welcome Pablo on
media platforms. stage, as well as performing songs with obscene
Then after a leaked behind the scenes video showing lyrics. This was followed by a public apology from
Pablo in what looks like the shooting of a new music both Pablo and Shabjdeed.
video went viral and on February 25, 2021 at nearly 1 After that, Pablo remained out of the spot light till
AM, Pablo released his first track since announcing March 1, 2022, when he released a new single titled
his sudden retirement nearly a year earlier titled “Barbary” where he hinted that his new album is on
“Ghaba”. His comeback music video surpassed the way and that it is just missing the “cover”. The
4,000,000 views on YouTube within the first 24 hours new single was met by mixed reviews. On one hand,
after release and hit the platform's top 10 trending people complimented the beat, the music production
worldwide. and the music video direction. On the other hand,
Where for the track’s music video, Pablo collaborated many people criticized the lyrics of the track,
with director Selim El Sadek, and muralist and claiming that it is “not the strongest” and that “he
graffiti artist Ammar Abo Bakr who managed to could do better” especially after taking such a long
transpose a vision of the jungle — using structures of break after just coming back from retiring.
concrete, cement, steel and billboard scaffolding — to And this is understandable, by postponing the release
create a stark urban landscape for Pablo to roam of his songs, Pablo manages to stay out of the scene
through as he sings. for long periods of time. Thus, raising people’s
The track discussed important themes like how life expectations that they will see something
seems to follow the law of the jungle “survival of the extraordinary - like Pablo usually made them expect
strongest”, how he appreciates that people called for by always outdoing himself.
his return while away and how he considers this to be Regardless of the criticism, and after just one day of
a gift from God and how one should capitalize on his the release of the “Barbary” clip, Pablo gained more
weaknesses to become powerful. than 1.5 million views, topped the YouTube trend in
Egypt and other Arab countries and ranked second on
Spotify. Also, for the first time, Marwan Pablo
managed to occupy the fourth place in the global
YouTube trend.
What’s coming next? Well, we know that Pablo is
currently working on his new album and we also
know that without a doubt the album will top the
charts whether it was the best work of art Pablo ever

Marwan Pablo: Far From Home? made or it was just an average album. For Pablo has
On March 29, 2021, Pablo announced an album managed to leave his signature on the Egyptian rap
named 'CTRL' containing 5 singles 'Ghaba', 'El Hob scene and has already got all the respect that he
Fein', 'CTRL', 'DON' and 'Atary' which was a needs, so he is currently focusing on enjoying the
previously released unfinished song before Pablo's process of making music and turning his passion into
retirement. He then went out of the spotlight till he a paying job. However, that doesn’t mean that he gets
announced his first concert after the comeback, which a free pass on whatever he does. For, respect needs to
was held on October 1, 2021. The tickets were sold be maintained after being garnered. All of this and
out and the concert was attended by over 20 thousand more just proves why he deserves to be “El
people. Fenomeno”.
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