I never claimed I was a cool hipster who’s following the latest in Egypt’s music scene… but goodness, I never knew the legendary Shaaban Abdel Rehim had a brother who’s in the singing business too. Or may be Shaaban was keeping him behind the Iron Mask for fear of competition?

I was at a cousin’s wedding tonight, when suddenly it was announced Sayyed Abdel Rehim was to hit the floor. ُ

Sayyed comes in, and I’m like: “Wow! This guy looks like Shaabolla.”

“He is Shaaban Abdel Rehim’s brother,” replied an uncle.

“What?! You gotta be kidding me! Shaaban has a brother who sings?!”

“Yep! This one.”

“Come on.. that’s a joke!”

“No, and I’m sure the two worked in the same ironing shop.”

For those of you who do not know Shaaban Abdel Rehim, he’s the Egyptian 50 Cent. Working his life in an ironing shop, Shaaban hit the music scene in the late 90s with his hit song: “I’ll quit smoking weed, and will start lifting weights.” He achieved a legendary status with his song “I Hate Israel,” that almost became the national anthem following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000.

And talent runs in the family. Sayyed set the floor on fire with his brother’s classics, but sure he had few of his own to perform. Since there were police officers invited to the wedding, Sayyed started with his latest song titled, “El-Basha” and it went like that:

“El-Basha… El-Basha… El-Basha… Ya Basha… Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey…”

And then again, “El-Basha… El-Basha… El-Basha… Ya Basha… Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey…”

Another mindblowing song was “El-’Aroussa” (The Bride), and it went like that:

“El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… Ya ‘Aroussa… Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey…”

And then again, “El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… El-’Aroussa… Ya ‘Aroussa… Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey…”

But that was just the beginning. More quality songs followed that drove the crowd to hysteria, including “Halawa” (Sweetness), and it went like that:

“Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Ya Halaaaawa… Heeeeeeeeeey…” (note: this is a shorter “Hey” when compared to the above-mentioned two songs.)

and again, “Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Halaaaawa… Ya Halaaaawa… Heeeeeeeey…”

[Above: Photo I took of Sayyed]

I wish Sayyed the best of luck with his “music” career… El-Career… El-Career… El-Career… Ya Career… Heeeeeeeey…