Study notes
Shaabi
Shaabi means "Of the people" and is Egyptian popular music - the music of the city streets of Cairo, the music you hear blaring out of the taxis!
Baladi and early shaabi can at times be hard to distinguish between - and indeed Yasmina of Cairo tells me that Egyptian people will often give very different opinions on the same piece, so these styles are very similar. However modern sha'abi by the likes of Hakim and Saad is generally easier to spot as it is more influenced by saidi and by Western pop.
Where baladi lyrics often focus on themes of loss, love and nostalgia, sha'abi lyrics are generally funny, salacious or involve wry social commentary.
Shaabi is a social dance rather than a performance dance but it is increasingly popular in belly dance performance as it often makes great party music.
As such there are no particular moves common to shaabi, though dance movements tend to be bigger and looser, with a style that is sassy, fast and full of attitude!