ABSTRACT
Yasser al-Manawahly is a lyricist and musician whose debut was in the wake of the 2011 uprising. Since then, his popularity has risen steadily. In February 2014, six months after the 2013 coup, al-Manawahly’s satirical music video Ahy rig’it Rima, went viral on YouTube. This chapter traces the history of singing political satire and popular protest in Egypt while analyzing Rima and an earlier music video. It argues that these songs continue a rich popular tradition that often inspires laughter or denigrates adversaries but, more significantly, it participates in creating the political awareness necessary for social change.
