Marwan Moussa promised us for almost a year that he will be exploring the five stages of grief – and he delivered. Meet Al Ragol Alazy Faqad Qalboh, the longest album in Egyptian rap’s history.

Overview of Marwan Moussa’s Album

The melancholy and depressed nature of the album is heartbreaking. It’s so sad to the point that it might be hard to listen to if you’re an owner of a frayed heart. But we took a deep breath, braced ourselves for the tempest that is about to ensue, and pushed play on Marwan Moussa’s newest venture.

The album is divided into five discs, and each disc carries a stage of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Narrated by the Egyptian singer, Donia Wael, the album takes you through the stages without any warning, so we treaded carefully.

We’re not going to say that every song sounds like the other, but they carry the same depressed, self-pondering vibe, so it’s difficult to have a song stand out from the rest – even when it’s a feature.

Lege-Cy, Afroto, Karim Osama, El Waili, and Hleem Taj Alser made surprise appearances on the album in tracks that sound easily forgettable. We can’t help but miss the old egotistic Maro who raps about being the toughest shell on this planet.

Here are Highlights of What We Think About Marwan Moussa’s New Album

• Taqato3 gives a nice nod to Abyusif in the line “Dakhalt el magal da bel sodfa, lola Altay makanosh shafo Marwan” (I entered this scene by chance, and if it wasn’t for [Youssef] Altay, people wouldn’t have met Marwan).
• El 3enwan’s chorus sounds like Closer by The Chainsmokers and Halsey. Give both songs a listen and you’ll hear the similarities! Although it’s catchy, we think it might have been a sample.
• Ba2es features “sagat” sounds that scratches an itch in our ears we didn’t even know existed. It delves deep into Marwan’s depression as he exclaims full-on “I’m miserable” in the chorus.
• Tesh Shabab touches on advices that Marwan evidently is giving himself, and the listeners. From the advices is if you are not liked for who you are, then these people are phony.
• Bosakber was his second single off this album, so we had some time to process the song. In the track’s music video, Marwan is seen in front of many mirrors that exposes the hidden meaning behind the song – again, he’s talking to himself, so in Maro’s words, he’s “crazy”.
• Eh?? Eh?? Da!! dives into feelings that Marwan hadn’t ever shared before about his depression. Mid-way, the song flips into a completely new sound that gives it the feel of a different song altogether. If you were wondering what the song is about, you guessed it! More self-reflection upon a retrospective thought process that gets a bit old.
• Sam3aak’s piano strums is soothing as it begins, with Donia Wael’s voice echoing in the background before the chorus kicks off. Instead of promoting the idea that he’s the best in the scene, he instead is promoting that people shouldn’t try to prove anything to anyone.

All in all, it’s a great new start for a fresh era, where Marwan is not your typical muscle-flexing rapper, but rather your friend who’s gone through so much to the point of having to purge all these feelings in 23 different songs. However, we want to offer him a shoulder to cry on, but at the same time, we miss the fierce larger-than-life rapper who gave us Batal 3alam. Where is the heroic Maro we’ve grown up with over the years? Yes, El Bosla Da3et was well-received and its life-pondering vision was similar to his approach with his latest album, yet Al Ragol Alazy Faqad Qalboh will be soon forgotten without any replays.