DJ Feedo On A Decade of Mixing Egypt's Hip Hop Game

If you have ever found yourself poppin' or lockin' in Cairo then there is a good chance that DJ Feedo was responsible. From owning the decks on the popular Nile FM radio show Friday Night Flavas, to rocking the mixer in just about every club from here to the Red Sea, we decided to catch up with the Hip Hop aficionado ahead of his anticipated set at the Cairo Jazz Club’s Spinning Wednesday series on the 21^st of September.

Hip Hop is alive and well in Cairo and any doubters simply need to visit the Cairo Jazz Club on Wednesday to see the scores of Egyptians who love to pop off on the dance floor. Helping to usher in the wave of Egyptian Hip Hop fans today is none other than Fadi Tawfik aka DJ Feedo. However, the road to Hip Hop supremacy has been quite the roller coaster.

Entering the scene way back in 1997 as DJ Fady, this talented spinner started out serving his bread and butter before having to change both his name and his preferred sound. According to DJ Feedo, ‘I was known first as DJ Fady, but People thought I was Fady, as in Fila the Trans DJ, and he was like you need to change your name. First I changed it to Fido and hated it eventually settling on DJ Feedo.’ At the time of his first incarnation, Cairo was filled with Hip Hop appreciating expats, but sadly his following dropped off as Egypt started sinking in turmoil. ‘In 2000 there was a lot of terrorism attacks, a lot of expats left and most of my parties were filled with Egyptians. But Egyptians are not into hip hop that much, not like Europeans or Americans. I changed to other genres just for the love of music because I wanted to play music right.’

Finding some success in a new genre, DJ Feedo found himself returning to Hip Hop in 2004 thanks in large part to the explosion of rappers finding success in the mainstream. ‘I think I returned to Hip Hop in 2004 because it was a great year for music, in terms of commercial and pop songs that came out including Sean Paul, Usher and Lil John,’ explains DJ Feedo.

With his return to Hip Hop, DJ Feedo, had to almost start establishing his base from scratch, but found an influx of fans in 2009 after joining the Nile FM team and eventually taking over their Hip Hop show Friday Night Flavas. The extra radio exposure solidified DJ Feedo as one of the best Hip Hop DJs in the country, with each show being packed to the brim. Playing a mix of today’s hottest tracks as well as his favourite influences DJ Feedo tells us ‘I like Kanye and Big Sean, but I play a mix of current songs and classics like 2Pac and Biggie. I also drop original mash-ups like a mix of Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z or mashing up Rihanna's Work. The crowd loves it, so when you hear my set, there’s a bit of everything.’

Looking forward to his Cairo Jazz Club set DJ Feedo claims ‘People say that I play at Jazz Club better than any place in Cairo. I think it’s because of the atmosphere, the crowd, and the DJ booth is in the middle of the crowd. I feed off the energy which makes me play better than any other place.’

Fortunately, DJ Feedo has secured a spot playing once a month at the Cairo Jazz Club’s Spinning Wednesday. His next show will be on September 21^st and will have both lovers and haters of Hip Hop involuntarily bumping off the wall with his well-mixed beats while providing a rapper’s delight of both essentials and the absolute latest sounds currently rocking the planet.

Photography by @MO4Network's #MO4Productions

Photography by Lobna Derbala