The music scene in Egypt, and Cairo in specific, has experienced for the past decade or more the emergence of a growing fan base which appreciates the non-mainstream. As this underground movement started taking shape, music started revolting against the hollow commercial wave.

During this rising wave of underground music, the most prominent venue was El Sawy Culture Wheel which was founded in 2003. With an average of 1500 visitors daily on regular days, and up to 2000 visitors on special occasions, the Culture Wheel’s stages were a starting point for many musicians. For many teenagers and youth, the Culture Wheel was the one place where they could nourish their musical tastes and try to expand their exposure to arts and music.

Since then, the underground music scene has evolved impressively. No matter what your genre of preference is, you are highly likely to stumble upon a band or a performer that will appeal to your particular tastes and all in a sincere non-commercial manner. As you skim through the scene, you come across bands that cover music legends (e.g. The Glass Onion covering The Beatles, and Andromeda covering Pink Floyd) . But the majority of performers present a fusion of various music influences, such as reggae, rock, alternative, metal, and jazz with Arabic music.

Even though independent bands seem to face growing challenges when songwriting, recording and performing, the number of talents trying to go their own way is obviously rising. Yet no matter how crammed the scene gets, someone will always be in the spotlight. After successfully stealing the spotlight for several consecutive years, the crowd's attention gradually shifted from Wust El Balad to Cairokee .

In 2003 Cairokee  made it's first appearance and won the hearts of some on the underground scene.Today the numbers don't lie and Cairokee has a substantial fan base and popularity. Cairokee ’s popularity really built up momentum after the 2011 revolution. In times of heightened emotions, people turn to those who can voice their feelings. Armed with honest lyrics that translated people’s thoughts into words and tunes, the band became the darlings of the underground music scene.

To name but a few of the tracks which became hits and topped charts right after the revolution and during the political events which followed:

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  • Sout El Horreyya (Sound of Freedom) featuring actor and Wust El Balad ’s lead vocalist Hani Adel which got over 2 million views on YouTube within a really short period of time, making it rank as a world record for top views in a short time.
  • Ethbat Makanak (Stand Your Ground) featuring Zap Tharwat
  • Matloub Za’im (A Leader is Wanted)
  • and Y’al Midan (Oh You, the Square) marking the return of Aida Al Ayyoubi after 20 years of retiring from the music scene.
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Watch Ethbat Makanak :

Their third and latest album, El Sekka Shmal, was released in early 2014 and features more artists including Algerian singer Soad Massi . According to MTV, their latest album is their biggest success to day, being entirely sold out in the first three days, topping the charts on the iTunes Store, and in the music market in Egypt and the Middle East. 2014 brought more good news for Cairokee, including a deal with record label Sony Music Middle East, a partnership which earned them their own Vevo channel on YouTube.

The good news didn’t stop there. On September 16 th, 2014, the band announced on their Facebook fan page that they were nominated for the MTV European Music Awards (MTV EMA) for the Best Middle East Act category.

"We are competing against five other acts but we are the only Egyptian act to ever make it this far in the competition. Who knows, maybe we can go all the way,” said Cairokee manager Reem El Waziry to Cairo Scene .

Watch Ana Mesh Menhom:

Even though Cairokee didn't win the competition, it was definitely a triumph for Egypt's independent underground music. The music scene has been showing more maturity one year after the other. Egypt, and especially Cairo, will keep bringing forth more talents that will eventually change how people perceive real music.