Laughter in the Dark

What can hip-hop tell us about Egypt today?

A decade ago, millions of Egyptians took to the streets in a people-led revolution that captivated the world’s attention and sent ripples across the Middle East. But the so-called “Arab Spring” quickly faded, and a return to the status quo—of authoritarian rule—was cemented. What happened to the energy and desire for change?

In Egypt, the answer lies in its youth, who comprise the bulk of the country’s fast-growing 106 million citizens. Sixty percent of the population is under the age of 25, and their world views are very much influenced by social media: TikTok is their primary language and medium of choice. Music is their means of expression—in particular, a thriving hip-hop scene known as mahraganat. This music has given voice to deep dissatisfaction with the Egyptian state, and the overall conditions of Egyptian society and culture. Could this be the start of a force for change? Laughter in the Dark is a riveting portrait of a country that is being transformed, for good or bad, by the rise of a fresh youth culture.

Yasmine El Rashidi is the author of The Battle for Egypt: Dispatches from the Revolution and Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt. She is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, and a contributing editor of the Middle East culture journal Bidoun. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and the Atlantic and has been anthologized in volumes including Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus and The New York Review Abroad: Fifty Years of International Reportage. She lives in Cairo.