Egypt's long-time pop star and actor Mohamed Fouad, whose career peaked with romantic songs and films in the 90s, has celebrated the 2021 new year with a new single titled Fil-Hafla released on Tuesday. "My new song, Fil-Hafla, is on my YouTube channel. Happy New Year," stated Fouad earlier through a video. A return to form, especially after releasing Shakwa Ela Allah and Marakeb Al-Nagah successively in recent months on his channel with 200K subscribers. Although Fil Hafla is relatively a catchy pop tune, marking Fouad's first collaboration with mahragan genre key players. Fouad was on top of Arab charts for many years, competing with stars like Amr Diab and Mohamed Mounir. Despite the EDM-suggesting intro, with its stadium anthem melody that starts with "At the party and it's 12. People are filling the place." The maqsoum beat starts with the verse "Turn on the broadcast," before a metronomic sagat pattern confirms the mahragan style, accompanied by panned tabla and toms breaks. A variation of beats follows, with the multi-section arrangement distinguished by the VST saxophone pattern. The song is produced by Coolpix Boy, whose recent collaborations include mahragan hit makers Kozbra in Yasta and El-Sawareikh in Coco Wawa. The composition of Mohamed Fouad 2021's new year single is made by Alaa Fifty, one of mahragan's pioneers, whose collaboration with younger DJ Totti in 225 was among his multiple hits of the year. The lyrics were written by young Double Zuksh, whose December hit Fokak, featuring 3enba and Coolpix is on its way to surpassing seven million views, following the trio's success with the summer hit Tayarat. Some fans expressed admiration for Fouad's new lively tune, others blamed him for switching to mahragan style music, expressing nostalgia for his old romantic songs like Hayran, Law, Fakrak Ya Nasiny, and Hansak. The song is a remarkable step for Fouad, whose cinema hit Ismailiya Rayeh Gay played a vital rule in shifting the 80s scene towards comedy in the birth of Mohamed Henidy's generation. He has been less active amid the last decade, hardly singing or acting despite multiple patriotic appearances. Fil Hafla is another mahragan-influenced song sung by another 90s pop star, showing the genre's domination in the charts of various music platforms and its potential to be the most popular genre of Egyptian music for the foreseeable future. With the culture ministry officially announcing Tuesday the stoppage of its various New Year's celebratory concerts in all its venues across different governorates, many new releases are trending online in the most wonderful time of the year. From Diab, Mounir, Hamza Namra, Tamer Hosni, to Sharmoofers, many Egyptian pop and indie stars are in the top charts side by side with many old and new sha'abi and mahragan singers, including Oka, Samer El-Medany, Muslim, Hassan Shakoosh, and Hamo Bika. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
