Post-coup recuperation in al-Manawahly’s songs

Abstract

Yasser al-Manawahly is an Egyptian musician and song writer whose debut was in the wake of the January 2011 uprising. Although many of these ‘voices of the new revolution’ have become silent since the 2013 coup, some are still actively trying to maintain the revolution’s goals. In 2014, al-Manawahly released a music video, ‘Ahy Rig’it Rima’ critiquing the coup, which went viral at a time when freedoms were severely curtailed. ‘Rima’ was followed by a long hiatus until the release of ‘Tili’t ouffa’ in 2016. Through analysing this and another video, ‘Khayyif’, released shortly after, and through interviewing al-Manawahly, this article explores the shift in the country’s political conditions and the artist’s political consciousness that underlie his move from satirizing regimes or policies to a satirical self-critique. Al-Manawahly is among millions of Egyptians who, dissatisfied with Morsi’s 2012–13 presidency, fell easy prey to the machinations of the counter-revolution. Can songs become a ‘podium’ for correcting the course of the Egyptian revolution? The article investigates al-Manawahly’s means to that end.