In 2001, a song entitled ‘I Hate Israel’ rocked airwaves across the Arab world. Set to popular Egyptian folk beats, ‘I Hate Israel’ was penned in response to the Second Intifada or Uprising of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories in 2001. The bombshell of a song resounded across the region and even reached Israel and the United States. It also catapulted its singer, Shaaban Abd El-Rahim, known as ‘Sho’bola’ by his fan base, to ultimate stardom.
Born to illiterate parents in a low-class Cairene neighborhood in 1957, Sho’bola had been an illiterate laundry presser and a wedding singer. Besides his daily job, Sho’bola partook in the underground sha’bi or folk music scene, contributing to various compilation cassettes.
In the 16 years since his rise to stardom, Sho’bola has been able to relatively evade criticisms of ‘selling out’ by continuously reclaiming his title as ‘poet of the people’. In TV shows, he would often ask presenters what a certain question means, explaining that he is uneducated.1 His performance of ‘ignorance’ hinges on an extremely political note that highlights the government’s negligence of the Egyptian folk and their educational system. His politics of representing the folk people marries art and politics in ways that highlight mundane struggles.
Sho’bola continues to make music to the exact same tune as ‘I Hate Israel‘.2 The pulsating rhythms, his signature ululation ‘eeeeeh’, and the memories they carry since 2001, make the music easy to recognize and relate to even when one does not agree with his politics. His adamant defense of his ignorance is a way to claim the government’s negligence of low-class communities, which comprise the majority of the population.
He continues to produce music that gives voice to the voiceless majority -60% of Egypt’s population is illiterate. His latest song condemns the price inflation of sugar and its impact on low-class populations, further cementing himself as the spokesperson of the ‘ignorant’.
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1 Here’s a link of an interview in which Sho’bola repeatedly politicizes his ignorance by relating it to the government’s negligence of his neighborhood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-5xQa_xlc
2 Link to my post of the translation: https://wp.nyu.edu/muslimpop/2017/03/31/i-hate-israel-sh…rics-translation/
March 28, 2017 at 1:56 pm
Is stupidity the same thing as ignorance?
Id like to hear more about this performer….where is he from, and are most people from his background “uneducated”? is he illiterate or simply unschooled? who is his main audience? can you locate interviews or other media sources where listeners of different social classes are asked to respond to his music? In other words–this post needs deepening