Omda’s palms were sweaty, knees weak, and arms heavy; he screams “This is disrespect – this is disrespect!”
The underground YouTube mini-mockumentary, ‘Nesr El-Scene’ (The Scene’s Eagle) has monopolized social media with its subtle, niche sense of humor. As a playful mix of Eslam Hossam’s video of ‘Ertegalet El-Rap’ (Rap’s Improvisation) and The Office’s tongue-in-cheek humour, ‘Nesr El-Scene’ is presented in five episodes.
Each satirically represents the Egyptian rap scene from different angles; its main narrative revolves around up-and-coming rapper Omda, played by Mohamed Emad, who is trying to launch his career with the help of his baffa (crew).
This series accurately represents a cohesive ‘Egyptian Rap Scene’ starter pack while adding out-of-context, non-sequel jokes which transform it into a socially-savvy masterpiece. The jewelry, the excessive cursing, the hand gestures while rapping, the baffa, and the rap battles in underground garages: ‘Nesr El-Scene’ compiles all the elements of urban Egyptian rap and packages them ironically.
Interestingly though, despite revolving around the main character Omda, there was not a single actor who overshadowed the rest of the cast; they all had their niche that represented pre-existing archetypes within this scene.
What seemed to be an underground, low-key mini YouTube series became the number one source of meme-material across all social media platforms, to the extent that established Egyptian rappers including Marwan Pablo, Abo El-Anwar, among others, are asking for a sequel to ‘Nesr El-Scene.’
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