via Schema Studios

If you haven’t been on Egyptian social media recently, we’re sorry to tell you that you missed the major cultural milestone that is Nesr El Scene. But don’t worry, we’re here to tell you all about it because, as weird as that series is, we simply need to rave all about it!

Naturally, we thought there would be no one better to share our thoughts with than you, our dear readers. So, read on to find out more about this new gem.

Premise 

To say that Egyptian culture has been overtaken by rap music would be an understatement. In fact, we’re willing to bet that two out of every five cultural moments that happened in the past year involved rappers. So, the fact that Egyptian creators immediately spoofed the no-longer-underground genre and its artists is hilarious and timely to a tee.

Shot as a mockumentary (similar to The Office), Nesr El Scene tells the story of a struggling rapper, Omda, and his posse, consisting of his second-in-command Badran, the crude-gesture-toting Hans, the self-called wise guy Modda, and his manager Hobz. As the gang struggles to push Omda up the rap ladder, lots of antics ensue.

So, why is it THAT good (and that weird)?

Here are the two things that Egyptians do best: Making fun of everything and coming up with great ideas. And these two factors can easily be found in this mini-show! With its heavy use of sarcastic humour and effortlessly funny characters, Nesr El Scene has given us a lot of laughs over the last couple of weeks.

Another thing it has given us was an exaggerated yet realistic look into friend group conflicts and, well, a lot of memes. And speaking of the memes, we have a bit to say about them, too.

Meme-o-meter 

When people want to measure a comedy’s success, they tend to rely on measuring its humour, script, and the performance of its actors. However, we’ve decided that we’ll raise them one more factor and judge a comedic work based on how capable it is of generating memes. Or, more accurately, how deeply it can affect our pop culture.

And, well, as you can clearly see, Nesr El Scene doesn’t just pass that test—it aces it, and we predict that it’ll be in the cultural consciousness for quite some time. Why? Well, because YouTube (unlike other, more mainstream platforms) allows younger (and funnier) Egyptians to express themselves and the actual cultural contexts they come from.

Make sure you watch Nesr El Scene!