Ayam El Disco is the latest archival release from Moataz Rageb, aka Disco Arabesquo, who returns with this new set following his highly acclaimed Sharayet El Disco a few years ago. Based in Amsterdam, the Egyptian DJ has spent years collecting rare tapes from the 1980s and early 1990s — a period that transformed Egypt’s musical landscape and shaped his own listening experience.
By the 1980s, the cassette format had become a revolutionary medium in Egypt. As Rageb notes, “In the 1980s and ’90s Egypt had a thriving cassette culture. With over 400 different companies producing music on tapes, Cairo was a hub of musical creativity.” Affordable and easily duplicated, tapes allowed artists to work independently while absorbing global influences such as disco, funk, and synth-pop through imported and bootleg recordings.
Rather than mirroring Western club culture, these sounds were adapted to local contexts. Disco entered everyday life - played at home, in cars, at weddings, beaches, and family gatherings - resulting in a distinctly Egyptian interpretation rooted in Arabic musical traditions.
Ayam El Disco reflects this era through a carefully curated selection ranging from smooth disco and boogie to funkier instrumentals and early proto-Jeel sounds. The compilation features Firkit Americana Show with the infectious modern soul of “Seeb Alby,” Hamid El Shaeri’s cult mellow groove “Ouda,” and Ammar El Sherei’s turbocharged funk number “Sooq,” alongside standout contributions from Medhat Saleh, Aida El Ayoubi, and Ahmed Adaweya. All of these tracks were originally released on cassette, showcasing a wide variety of disco-infused sounds unique to Egypt’s 1980s and early 1990s music scene.
Collected over eight years and newly remastered in Paris by Colorsound Studio, Ayam El Disco is both an archival document and a celebration of Egypt’s own “Disco Days” — music made for the dancefloor and now available on vinyl for the first time for all collectors of Arabic groove.