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Rb Hip Hop

Egyptian Rapper Wegz Shares His Favourite Hometown Slang

The artist was recently in Toronto for his global tour and met up with Billboard Canada to answer some questions.

Wegz

Wegz

Daniel Victor Louis

Egyptian superstar Wegz kicked off the North American leg of his world tour at History in Toronto on October 25. He followed it up with another show in Montreal, at the Théâtre Beanfield on October 26. The rapper — who was Egypt’s most-streamed artist in 2022 and whose 2022 song "ElBakht" is currently No. 25 on the Billboard Arabic Hot 100 — has been on a mission to expand Egyptian rap outside of his native country.

Although Wegz has yet to release a full studio album, his name is well known throughout the Middle East, and he continues to make waves across borders. He rose to fame after his single “Dorak Gai” was released in 2020, and it now currently sits at 117 million views on YouTube. “ElBakht” remains one of Egypt’s top-streamed songs nearly two years after its release.


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Wegz’s tour began in Europe last September, cementing him as the first-ever Arab artist to have a Live Nation-backed global tour. He made sure to show some love to Toronto native RamRiddlz – a Canadian-Egyptian rapper -- by having him open both Canadian shows.

Known for his poetic and impactful lyrics, Wegz is well acquainted with the power of language, so Billboard Canada recently met up with Wegz and asked him to share some of his favourite Egyptian slang.

Watch the video below:

Video Editor: Yasseen Ashri

Videography: Ali Elmoudi

Photography: Daniel Victor Louis

Producer: Jackson Turner & Daniel Victor Louis

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Common Holly
Courtesy photo

Common Holly

FYI

New & Upcoming Canadian Albums: Neil Young, Common Holly, The Barr Brothers

Other Canadian artists with new albums out this week include Tyler Ellis, JupiterReign, Curbside, Steven Taetz, Spanned Canyons, Tyler Ellis, APACALDA and CHXMERAS.

This week's list of new Canadian album releases is headed by the ever-prolific Neil Young, with Talkin’ to the Trees. His 44th studio album, it features his new band, the Chrome Hearts, and is heavily political in tone. Loudersound notes that "there’s no denying that he’s capable of writing gloriously blunt and bracing protest songs when he’s properly fired up. 'Big Change' and 'Let’s Roll Again' are the new record’s snarling highlights, a one-two knockout punch of sarcasm-drenched yet entirely sincere bile in which Young cranks up his guitar and takes direct aim at Trump and his lackey Elon Musk."

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