Various Artists | Best Egyptian Pop

Throw yourself into Mahmoud el Hasani's "Sagara Bouny"

Grab all 19 mind-blowing tracks here.

As a super-outgoing Leo with a massive, unrestrained ego, it's very rare that I am short on words.

This is one of those occasions. 

I picked this album up at the Nile Deli on Steinway Street yesterday along with a few other CDs that I'd been meaning to bring home for a while. I hadn't, for reasons that are unclear to me now, ever seen this gem before. How was this possible? The thing was grime-encrusted and must have been sitting in the store for years. A store that I frequent at least once a month, drooling, cash in hand, prowling for sonic treasure.

I instantly fell in love with the cover. I assumed that this wasn't going to be like any of the other Egyptian CDs I'd picked up from this place. I was right.

Is this chaabi? It isn't so-called "electro-chaabi," I know that. There's no autotune, for one thing. It may, in fact, predate autotune. But it has all of the other elements. Insane use of sound effects. KickThrillAss rhythms. Vocals that will put hair on your back. 

Whatever it is, whatever it's called, whenever it was recorded, you're not ever going to forget it.