Marwan Pablo
Marwan Ahmed Metawea () (born November 22, 1995), known by his stage name Marwan Pablo and previously known as Dama, is an Egyptian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Alexandria, Egypt. Being referred to by the VICE Media and himself as "Egypt's Godfather of Trap", Pablo is considered one of the most important voices of the new generation of trap/hip-hop musical landscape in Egypt. He is most known for his hits ‘Free’, 'Ghaba', ‘El Gemeza' and 'Sindbad'. Influenced by the emerging electronic music in Egypt, Pablo and other trap musicians of his age are aiming  to redefine the popularity of New School Hip Hop and Trap music in Egypt, taking it from underground into mainstream. Career. Marwan Pablo first started making music in 2015, being known with the moniker "Dama" at the time. At one point, he decided to disappear and rediscover himself, only to came back in late 2017 with the single 'Al Gholaf X Ozoris' under the name of "Marwan Pablo" in reference to both Pablo Escobar and Pablo Picasso as he mentions in his single 'Free'. Pablo began his career writing his own lyrics and eventually evolved into producing the tracks as  well. Cairo has long been the city for up and coming musicians, but Marwan Pablo was trying to change that by popularizing trap music in his hometown of Alexandria. For that end, Pablo shot to fame in 2018, starring in the "Rabka" documentary and releasing his first hits 'Sindbad', 'Abu Meca' and 'Folklor' in collaboration with the rising Egyptian producer "Molotof". Retirement. On February 14 of 2020, Pablo announced that, for personal and religious reasons, he will no longer be making music. Shortly after, he blanked both his YouTube channel and Instagram account. The artist explained that the main reason  he retired is "the pressure that was forced on him, the different levels of expectations that people have cornered him within, and the constant labeling". He said that he needed a break to "recharge himself without being cornered". On March 9, 2020, Pablo went live on Instagram in response to rumors of his illness or death. He expressed fury over the anecdotes and denied any relation between the retirement and his health or family members. Despite the retirement, his "Denamet" (with Molotof) was the runner-up in Egypt's top 5 list as of July 2020. Return. In January 2021 , Pablo's name was trending again when news circulated of his prospective return after his profile picture on Facebook was changed. The new picture gained a hundred thousand likes in a couple of hours, but he never made an official announcement about it. On February 19, a leaked video on Twitter showcasing Pablo working on a new song, preparing for his return, went viral. His name topped the trending list on Twitter that day in Egypt. On February 25, Pablo returned to the music industry with the release of 'Ghaba' [Jungle] and reactivating all his social media accounts. Marwan Pablo 's comeback music video surpassed 4,000,000 views on YouTube within the first 24 hours after release and hit the platform's top 10 trending worldwide. On March 29 he announced an album named 'CTRL' containing 5 singles 'Ghaba', 'El Hob Fein', 'CTRL', 'DON' and 'Atary' which was a previously released unfinished song before Pablo's retirement. On October 1, Pablo held his first concert since his comeback in New Cairo, accompanied by Palestinian rap group BLTNM members Shabjdeed, Al Nather and Shabmouri. The tickets were sold out and the concert was attended by over 20 thousand people. Shortly after the  concert, the Egyptian Musicians' Syndicate banned Pablo from performing because of Shabjdeed's actions during the concert, which included changing the lyrics of a popular religious chant by Sayed Al Naqshabandi to welcome Pablo on stage, as well as performing songs with obscene lyrics. on 2022, he returned with new clip "BARBARY"</ref>