“I consider that one of the biggest honors of my life because it shows that people see themselves in what I say in my songs and feel represented in my songs and there’s nothing bigger than that at the end of the day.”- FL EX

Mohamed Ibrahim-FLEX- is an Egyptian rapper. He was born in 2001 and raised in Maadi, Cairo. He first exploded with his Debut EP “SHAYATEEN”. His music is representative of the Egyptian street scene of the youth. He is crowned the king of drill in Egypt. In just a year he has made quite the impression on the Egyptian music scene for his energetic music and unique energy.

“FL EX has played a key role in codifying the present ethos of drill music in Egypt, mixing the bravado of the nation’s youth with a leering flow-pattern inspired by his icon, Eminem.”

okayafrica

Although he was raised in Maadi, he was born in Faisal, Giza, and spent a lot of time surrounded by the music scene there. Despite Egypt not having a very active hip-hop scene, in Faisal he was still immersed in the hip-hop scene that was very much alive there.

In an interview with okayafrica. he states:

“It was a very special sub-culture where you’d see street fashion and graffiti culture everywhere — and the music tied all of it together. That’s how I got into music because I wanted to do what the older guys in my hood were doing.”

FL EX

On top of being the face of Cairo FL EX is currently a law student at Cairo University

FL EX got scouted by Maadi Town Mafia in 2020, where they pushed him into drill

FL EX can be heard rapping about the overlooked people living in Cairo. He often speaks about how the sprawl of people throughout the city are living in the shadow of rich.

“I think that drill has taken off in Egypt thanks to the collective work of artists here“

FL EX

FL EX thanks his label mates for helping him navigate the new role he has been given/worked for in the Egyptian rap scene. He said that although a majority of the music in MTM is a group effort, his label mates pushed and supported him to work on his last EP alone. The payoff was a great one, as his most recent EP was notably his best and most popular work

MESAMA3EEN FT. @Husayn is a drill song released on December 16, 2022. This song details his status with lines insinuating “I’m him” or “I’ll devour you”, flexing his status through the violence he is capable of, his roughness and toughness, that he is such a macho strong man. He portrays his status through his fame which surpasses the mention of his name in the streets. He describes himself and his ‘crew’ as people of freedom, free to do what they want. This is a message to the audience, which may consist of listeners that he considers as oppositions, that he has the power and capability to act in whatever way he pleases. He instills messages of his deep history and influence within the urban community within his lyrics dictating that he is the ONE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwH0ip-4G5c: FL EX – Mohamed Ibrahim: King of Drill