Censorship Board bans songs from Cairokee’s new album – Mada Masr

Courtesy: Cairokee

Egyptian band Cairokee has announced that four songs from its upcoming album have not been approved by Egypts Censorship Board. In a Sunday statement on its Facebook page, the band wrote that the album will not be commercially released in its full form given the boards decision.

The censored songs include lyrics about everyday life, our problems as young people, social media and what we see on TV our usual topics, said 33-year old frontman and songwriter Amir Eid, who doesnt think any of the content is particularly controversial. If anything, I feel, as a songwriter, that I didnt say everything I wanted to say.

It is a standard practice for the Censorship Board to review songs before commercial release, but Cairokee, whose rise to fame came as a result of their politically-inspired music, has not had songs blocked before.

Set for release on July 11, Nota Beida (A Drop of White) will be the five-member bands seventh album, following 2015s Nas W Nas. The title track was released as a single in May and has been viewed over 880,000 times on YouTube.

On Wednesday, days after a sold-out show on July 1 as part of Londons Shubbak Festival that featured teasers from the new album, Eid told a maa Masr that the band was not given an official reason for the Censorship Boards decision.

We dont know the real reason, he said. Its possible the album wont be released commercially at all. He added that the matter is currently being handled by the bands lawyers.

While the Censorship Board has objected to the use of certain words in the past, in this case they objected to the release of entire songs, Eid said.

One of the songs that was not approved by the board, which is titled Al-Keif (The High), tackles youth drug use. Ironically, Eid says, the band was contacted by the Social Solidarity Ministrys drug use prevention and treatment program, which asked if it could use the song in an upcoming media campaign.

We will continue with our initial plan and release the full album online, said Eid, cautioning that he did not want to overstate the issue. We have our own parallel world in which we operate. Our fans are all online, and thats that.

The good news is that well keep going, and our music will remain free, read the the bands Facebook statement. It will be available on the internet and on digital stores, with visuals for each song.

Although formed in 2009, Cairokee became widely known during the 2011 revolution, after it recorded the song Sout al-Horreya (The Voice of Freedom), which some protesters took up as an anthem. The song was subsequently picked up by radio stations and TV channels.

The band has since collaborated with prominent figures in the regions music industry, including Algerian singer Souad Massi and late Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm.

Its latest album includes a collaboration with vocalist Abel Rahman Rushdy, who is known for his sufi style of singing.

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Censorship Board bans songs from Cairokee's new album - Mada Masr