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Once again, the pulse of the Arab world is best expressed with the simplistic, elementary, and perhaps even vulgar tones of Egyptian shaaby (popular folkloric) singer Shaaban Abdelriheem. The singer who is revered for his honesty and despised for his naiveté and brashness has grabbed headlines from the moment he released his hit single "I hate Israel" some years ago. This time, Abdelriheem latest track Bush Ibn El Magnoona (Bush son of the crazed) chides George W. Bush and prays Obama will not take his cues from his predecessor.

While Abdelriheem's songs have the same melodic tune and are indistinguishable if it weren't for the lyrics. A very prolific musician, Abdelriheem releases tracks with remarkable frequency alongside simple collage videos or elementary animations. This allows Abdelriheem to issue songs about current events shortly after their occurrence, making him a timely political and social commentator. His inclination towards politically-inclined content best explains his popularity. While he needs his own post here on Ta3beer, for the time being, the following youtube links to his videos (although not translated to English) will suffice as visual backgrounders.

a) Al-Masrahiya Khilsit (The Play is Over) about the trial and execution of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
b) Ya Am Araby (Mr. Arab) about the broader foreign policy ambitions of the US and Israel in the Arab world.
c) Amrika (America) about US military action in the Middle East

His latest release comes just a week after the election of Barack Obama president of the United States, which looks upon an Obama presidency with pessimism and continued misfortune for the Arab world. Abdelriheem sees more of the same from the first African-American president and laments the misery of the Arab world and its excessive and misplaced hopefulness in the up-coming administration. The Lyrics read as follows (translated crudely by yours truly).

Bush Ibn El Magnoona (Bush son of the crazed)