via Instagram

Wegz’s fame has skyrocketed in no time. Whether because of the release of a new banger, taking part in a commercially successful TV ad, being rumoured as romantically involved with a celebrity, pulling a controversial look, or lighting up the night in a sold-out concert, he is the talk of the town.

via Esquire Middle East

He is set to perform in the upcoming Wireless festival in March alongside renowned international artists like Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert. The concert, lined with rap, RnB, electronic, and more, will take place in the United Arab Emirates, with tickets available on Ticketmaster.ae. Wegz is the first Egyptian rapper to perform in a large music festival.

His journey from being an underground artist in the back-then budding rap scene to being a global sensation who sang in the closing ceremony of this year’s World Cup held in Qatar is worth breaking down.

Ahmed-Turned-Wegz

via Enterprise

Wegz was born and raised in Alexandria’s suburbs under the name Ahmed Ali. In his teen years, the Yemeni-Egyptian worked as a customer service provider at a telecommunication company. However, it wasn’t until he moved to Cairo and stayed with Mahraganat star Sadat Al Alamy that he debuted his music career. In collaboration with a couple of his music-enthusiast friends, a group of rappers that go by the name, Holy Hood, was created.

His trademark name, Wegz, surprisingly has no specific meaning. Growing up, one of his friends joked about his curly afro that resembled a wig. With time, the nickname evolved into “Wegz”; the rest is history.

Breaking Out

via The National News

Wegz first broke out of his underground shell to dominate the mainstream rap scene with the release of his multi-million-streamed song, Dorak Gai. The song went viral and achieved the second spot globally on YouTube in two weeks, ending the year being streamed over 77 million times.

Who would’ve thought that a rapper could make a sob-inducing heartbreak anthem? Wegz’s Al Bakht took the world by storm, followed by another acoustic ballad, Al Amira, which was also a success.

Wegz debuted his acting career in Shahid’s highly acclaimed Bimbo, alongside many other young talents, such as Huda El Mufti, Ahmed Malek, Hassan Malek, and Malak Elhussainy. The star-studded show, directed by Amr Salama, was renewed for a second season at the end of last year.

Global Invasion 

via Masrawy

After the release of Myriam Fares’ Tukoh Taka, controversy arose as it featured the stereotypical beats Westerners associate Arabs with and a video of face-covered women belly dancing to a desert backdrop — not the ideal form of Arab culture representation.

Then came Wegz’s video of Ezz Al Arab (Arab Glory), full of visuals and choreography, authentically representing young people in the region. The fact that the song was all in Arabic, rather than multilingual, risked it failing to reach a wider global audience. But it was featured in a display banner at New York Times Square. 

After performing in the closing ceremony of this Qatar’s World Cup, Wegz was officially marked as a key figure in the trap scene in Egypt. Thus, it makes sense that it was announced that he was added to the lineup of the Wireless festival to be held in The Etihad Theater in Abu Dhabi on March 11^th.

Standing His Ground

via Al-Ain

The artist is known for supporting Palestine on all his social media platforms. However, unlike many public figures, Wegz is keen on publicly acknowledging Palestinians and has raised the Palestinian flag during his concerts in Paris and London to show what he stands for.

Wegz also vicariously shows his support for refugees. He performed Be3oda Ya Belady in the movie “Captains of Zaatari” and donated all profits from the song to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, aiming to help improve their living conditions.

Fashion Trendsetter

via Gomhuria Online

In collaboration with the Alexandrian clothing brand, Ohanna, Wegz launched a fashion line named Wegz x Ohanna. The items are influenced by his character and style, which is known for being extremely exquisite.

It wasn’t until his unique and colourful looks at Riyadh Season that he started getting backlash for his style. Dressed head-to-toe in Valentino, his look included a black and white pyjama suit with floral print all over the infamous bright green jacket over the taffeta shirt and a pair of purple shorts along with it.

The Hype Is Real

via El Watan News

Many celebrities have expressed their admiration of Wegz’s music, starting with Ruby, who joined him on Sahebet Al Sa3ada’s New Year’s Eve special in which they sang his highly acclaimed Bazet Khales together. Further acknowledgement has come from Ahmed Helmy, Amr Abdelgalil, and football player Mohamed Shenawy.

Wegz has also been listed among the most influential musicians by Forbes Middle East and posed for the 2021 cover of GQ. He was additionally crowned as Spotify’s most streamed artist in the Middle East and North Africa region for the third consecutive year.