Islam Said (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: إسلام سعيد), stage name Islam Chipsy (Arabic: إسلام شيبسي), is an Egyptian musician. His music incorporates elements of traditional Arabic wedding and electronic instruments. Their style is seen as part of a new wave of

Shaabi Shaabi (, ; ) is an Egyptian musical genre. It is a form of popular working-class music which evolved from Egyptian Baladi in the second half of the 20th century and the core of Egyptian popular music in streets, at weddings, and in everyday ...

music, referred to as electro-shaabi or

Mahraganat Mahragan or Mahraganat (, ; ), also Egyptian electro, Egyptian street music or shaabi-electro, is a popular genre of Egyptian folk music. Mahraganat is a combination of working class popular Egyptian music (shaabi) played at weddings, EDM ...

( Arabic: مهرجانات) (although Chipsy dissociates himself from this, as his music is primarily instrumental). He was formerly a member of Egyptian electronic music group EEK (or Islam Chipsy and EEK). He was later a member of another Egyptian electronic music group, called Dabke.

Career

Said adopted the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

''Chipsy'' when another keyboardist with name "Islam Said" began to take credit for his tracks. Since Said was frequently seen eating Chipsy (local brand of

Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...

crisps in Egypt), people started to refer to him by the name, and it stuck. He played the keyboard alongside two other band members, Khaled Mando and Islam Tata, both drummers, collectively styled as Islam Chipsy and EEK. Said's profile in Western media has grown, along with other electro-shaabi artists who are also signed to the 100COPIES label in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

(Said since 2014). In 2014, Chipsy and EEK gave toured the UK, performing live to crowds in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. On 10 May 2019, Chipsy, then part of an Egyptian electronic music group called Dabke, performed at the opening concert of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium.

Musical style and collaborations

Said does not want to be associated with the Mahraganat movement, as it is very much based on MCs' voice work, while his work is generally instrumental. As shaabi music became more popular, After Said began working with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, he engaged in collaborations with British

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

producers, including Faze Miyake,

Kode9 Steve Goodman, known as Kode9 (born 1973) is a Scottish electronic music artist, DJ, and founder of the Hyperdub record label. He was one of the founding members of the early dubstep scene with his late collaborator The Spaceape. He has releas ...

, Pinch, Mumdance, and

Artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

Recognition

A reviewer in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called Said a "preternaturally talented keyboard player", with a unique style consisting of blasts of tone clusters deployed by alternately punching, slapping and karate-chopping his keyboard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chipsy, Islam Egyptian electronic musicians