Deciphering Egyptian Rap Ciphers

Abstract

Abstract In this essay, I look at hip hop music in Egypt and examine a popular rap activity known as ‘ciphering’, a verbal jam session in which rappers take turns trading lyrics over a beat. The gatherings I investigate were usually held on public city sidewalks, but Egyptian youth also exchanged short rap videos online with friends in what became a virtual cipher. Through these rap ciphers, Egyptian youth established creative spaces outside the realm of family authority where they could rehearse different selves among friends. The technologies with which they recorded and traded their videos were key to the social experience of ciphering and offered new ways of narrating the self. In this essay, I suggest that ciphering entails more than just rapping; it is a practice entangled in a range of social activities that Egyptian youth do together. Through the ritual of ciphering, rappers affirm their individuality and establish membership in groups.