Adaweyah has been shocking and delighting Egyptians for more than two decades with his always-acceptable-yet-bordeline-risqué songs. Adaweyah started his career track as a cafe waiter, but in 1971 he began performing songs forged in the crucible of the Cairo streets: full of working class slang and double entendres. Like many shaabi (working class) musicians, Adaweyah specializes in mawal (vocal improvisation). From the beginning, Adaweyah worked the music scene hard, performing not only in Egypt, but also on the English club circuit, and soon he began to rocket to stardom. Despite his considerable new-found wealth, Adaweyah has been a champion of the working class and a sly critic of middle class complacency: stances that have kept Egypt's censors working overtime. More recently, Adaweyah has been the subject of some criticism; his introduction in the early '90s of drum machine and synthesizer was seen by many as a retrograde step, while rumors circulated that the great singer had been emasculated by an angry Saudi whom Adaweyah had jilted. After a lengthy spell recovering, he returned to recording in 1990. His music can be heard on tape, but due to his oppositional stance, it is unlikely that he will get the opportunity to record on CD in the near future. ~ Leon Jackson, All Music Guide
