How To Talk About Music in Egyptian Arabic

Knowing how to talk about music in Egyptian Arabic is a great skill to have.

It will make you friends, teach you more about the culture, and give you something to talk about at parties. What’s not to love?

Today we give you all the vocab you need, plus some Egyptian bands and artists we especially recommend. 

Let’s get started!

Vocabulary For Music in Egyptian Arabic

First we will get started with some of the main Egyptian Arabic vocabulary you should know.

After that we will move onto example sentences.

Music. : mazzika / moseqa.

.موسيقى / مزيكا

Song. : oghnia.

.اغنية

Egyptian songs. : aghani masrya.

.اغاني مصرية

Listen. : yesma3.

.يسمع

Band. : faree2 (also means team).

.فريق مزيكا

باند

Like a lot of “modern” words, Egyptians also often just say “band.”

Singer (male / female). : moghany/ moghania.

مغني – مغنية

Folk music. : mazzika sha3by.

.مزيكا شعبي

Concert. : 7afla.

.حفلة

Example Sentences For Music in Egyptian Arabic

Read up on how to argue in Egyptian Arabic.

In this post you will find a lot of “opinion expressing” vocab that would come in handy.

I love music. : ana ba7b el mazzika.

.انا بحب المزيكا

I like Egyptian music. : ana ba7b elmoseqa elmasria.

.انا بحب المزيكا المصرية

I don’t like Egyptian music very much. : ana mesh ba7b elmazzika elmasrya awy.

.انا مش بحب المزيكا المصرية قوي

I like to listen to music a lot. : ana ba7b asma3 mazzika awy.

.انا بحب اسمع مزيكا قوي

He has a lot of favorite songs. : hwa 3ando aghani mofadala kteeer.

.هو عنده اغاني مفضلة كتير

Want to say this with a different pronoun?

Then go over to present tense verbs (11-20).

There are a lot of cool bands in Cairo. : fe fera2 mazzika kwaissen awy f elqahera.

.في فرق مزيكا مصرية كويسين قوي في القاهرة

My best friend plays in a band. : sa7by byl3ab mazzika f fare2 (band).

.صاحبي بيلعب مزيكا في فريق (باند)

It is difficult to be a good singer (male / female). : sa3b tb2a moghani kwaiss/moghania kwaissa.

.صعب تبقى مغني كويس/مغنية كويسة

We want to go to a concert! : 3ayzen nro7 7afla.

!عايزين نروح حفلة

I like Omar Khayrat’s music. :

.انا بحب موسيقى عمر خيرت

I listen to Um kolthom a lot. :

.انا بسمع ام كلثوم كتير

We have more recommendations for Egyptian Arabic music halfway through the post.

Go ahead and check then out!

Common Questions To Ask About Music in Egyptian Arabic

Keep in mind: these are conjugated for male first, followed by female.

What is your favorite music? : eh aktar mazzika bt7bha / bt7beeha?

ايه اكتر موسيقى بتحبها/بتحبيها؟

Do you like Pop music? : bt7b / bt7by el pop?

بتحب/بتحبي موسيقى البوب؟

What do you listen to? : btsma3 eh? / btsma3i eh?

بتسمع ايه؟/  بتسمعي ايه؟

What are some of your favorite songs? : eh aktar aghani bt7bha / bt7beeha?

ايه اكتر اغاني بتحبها/ بتحبيها؟

Do you like any bands from Egypt? : bt7b / bt7by ay fera2 mazzika masrya?

بتحب/بتحبي فرق مزيكا مصرية؟

Is he / she a famous Egyptian singer? : hwa moghani mashhour? hya moghania mashhora?

هو مغني مشهور؟/  هي مغنية مشهورة؟

When was the last time you want to a concert? : emta akher mara ro7t/ro7ty 7afla?

امتى اخر مرة رحت / رحتي  حفلة؟

Who is your favorite Egyptian singer? : meen aktar moghani masry bt7bo?

مين اكتر مغني مصري بتحبه/ بتحبيه؟

Do you like Shaabi and Mahraganat music? : bt7b el-aghani elsha3bi w elmahraganat?

بتحب الاغاني الشعبي والمهرجانات؟

You might also find value in our post about how to introduce yourself in Egyptian Arabic.

In it we give you a bunch of vocab to express yourself and what you do for fun.

Egyptian Arabic Music For You To Listen To

With all this talk about Egyptian Arabic music, you need some actual recommendations now.

No worries – we’ve got you covered!

Cairokee: Kan Lak Ma’aya

This is a really good post on Cairokee. Highly recommended read about the band’s history.

Sharmoofers: Hazina

Da3souqa: Hashrab Hashish

Masar Egbari: E2ra El Khabar

Eskendrella: Yohka Anna

These are only five recommendations but they are good for a start.

We will be publishing more complete guide to Egyptian Arabic music later on.

For more Egyptian bands, check out this cool post (with lyrics) on ArabicPod101.

Example Conversation

Girl: Hey Tarek do you like music? : Tarek, bt7b el mazzia?

طارق..بتحب المزيكا؟

Boy: Yeah of course. I listen to a lot of music. : ah tab3an, ana basma3 mazzika kteer.

.اه اكيد..انا بسمع مزيكا كتير

Girl: What is your favorite genre? : eh aktar noo3 mazzika bt7bo.

ايه اكتر نوع مزيكا بتحبه؟

Boy: I listen to everything…but I like African percussions. : ana basma3 kol 7aga, bas ba7b el tbool el afriqya.

.انا بسمع كل حاجة بس بحب الطبول الأفريقية

Girl: Oh cool. Do you go to concerts too? : a da gamed, btro7 7aflat?

ايه دع جامد ..بنروح حفلات؟

Boy: Definitely. There are some cool venues in Cairo. : ah akeed, fe amaken helwa awy f el qahera.

اه اكيد..في اماكن كتير حلوة قوي في القاهرة

Girl: We should go together sometime. I also love music! : lazem nro7 ma3 ba3d f mara, ana kaman ba7b el mazzika.

.لازم نروح مع بعض في مرة..انا كمان بحب المزيكا

Boy: Good idea! Let’s do it! : fekra helwa, yala bena!

!فكرة حلوة ..يلا بينا

Culture Corner

There is a very specific experience I think is important to have in Cairo: riding a minibus super late at night.

Do this safely, especially if you are a girl. This means going with a friend and riding through a populated area you already know well.

But if you do get the chance? You will hear this very specific kind of shaabi music that a lot of minibus drivers seem to be fans of.

We will do a post on it in the future.

Until then…have fun with all this music!

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo