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Extracted from Shaaban Abdel-Rehim, Zahirat Al-Alfiya Al-Talta: Khaleek Insan Gideed(Shaaban Abdel-Rehim, Phenomenon of the Third Millennium: Re-Invent Yourself), a brand new book by Tarek Atia tracing the rise of Shaaban Abdel-Rehim and what his success means for the Arabic music scene. Surrounded by a quite a few members of his immediate and extended families, Shaaban holds court in the family room of his simple house in the village of Mit Halfa. It's not the kind of place you'd expect the country's most talked-about and sought-after singer to live in. But that's Shaaban. He's down home all the way. So what's your program like tonight? Are you singing at any parties? Yeah, but I don't know where because Wahid, the guy who has the notebook, is coming in a little while. So how many parties are you going to tonight? These days it's not like Ramadan. Things are a little bit calmer. Ramadan was really crowded. Like, for instance, today I might have two parties. ….. Why have foot irons disappeared? Those that do it are still there. But no one learns it anew. And those who have kids don't teach them. They teach them normal ironing? No, they take them to school. Because it's a hard job. But you've taught all your kids to sing? Yes. Do you see a good future in it. God knows. You think they have a talent for it? Yeah, they sing. The Israel tape, Essam sings most of it. That Israel tape is a pretty big hit. Were you expecting it? No. I thought it would be big here, in the countryside, in Shubra, places like that. But a guy called me from Arish and told me the tape is breaking all records in Palestine. So it reached the people. Something is bothering me. In your tapes you tell people not to smoke, not to wear bracelets, and yet you smoke, you wear bracelets. Yeah. So what's the story? I said I'm going to stop smoking white cigarettes and smoke red ones. Did I say I was going to completely stop smoking? Yeah... you say "I'm going to stop smoking..." In early January... Yeah... Well maybe I mean next January. So you do plan on quitting? Of course, that's only natural. Doesn't everyone. (He coughs) So you've stopped whites and now smoke reds? Yeah. But reds are stronger than whites. Yeah. What about shisha. You also tell people to stop that. I don't smoke shisha. And you want people to stop. Yeah. Are fame and money going to change Shaaban? No, nothing is going to change. All my relatives are here around me. But there's a big jump happening right now... I'm never going to change, but I'll just help those around me. (One of his relatives pipes in: He's our father, our brother, he's our whole life. God help him. We worship the ground he walks on.) Q for Shaaban's mother: Were you expecting this kind of success for your son? He's our baraka (blessing). God has given him to us. He's our gentle soul. He's never stingy. (She's joined by a chorus of voices singing Shaaban's praises, and Shaaban basks in the glory of all these compliments.) God protect him, keep away the bad people. And always put the good in his path. When someone gets famous, a lot of people come running. How are you going to differentiate between the good and the bad, those that want to use you, and those who have your best interests at heart? I've been singing for about twenty years. No one ever came and offered me roles in TV series, or films before. Now, everyone's looking for their own benefit. They'll use a little of the fame that I'm living right now for their own good. So I know that. ….. What's your reaction to people saying Shaaban is a fad? He'll only be big for a month or two. That's all in God's hands. So that kind of talk doesn't upset you? No. There might be another singer who makes it big. Everyone gets their turn. Everyone gets their share. But are you going to be able to keep going strong? The important thing is not to go down. But what do you think it'll take to stay on top? I'm always improving. Plus, there are all these films and TV shows. Plus, I'm always looking for new ideas. I talk about things that are around us. Like if something happens, like an earthquake for instance, I'll write a song about it. Anything. So you like to be on top of events? Events, that's right. That's my style. Like, the lady who cut her husband up into pieces and put him in bags, I did a song about her the same month. You know, anything that's part of the age that we're living in. You mean the week that we're living in. That's right. And whenever I perform live, the audience always sings along. They already know the words. So who do you write your songs for: everyone, or a certain class of people? I write my songs for the general public, but I never expected them to reach the class of people that they've reached. I've done my songs at the shaabi (popular) level. I never expected them to reach the American University. And I've begun to sing in Mohandiseen, and Heliopolis, and Nasr City and Maadi. Everybody listens to me now, thank God. ….. So where did you get these [diamond-encrusted] shoes from? I had them made? At your cobbler's? Yeah. And you're the one who suggested this model? He has a woman's model like this one. So I told him to make me a men's version. It costs LE300 a pair. ….. Have you ever heard of rap? What's that? Rap. You know the American music that also takes a lot of current events as its subject matter? You know, the music kids are listening to these days. We can hardly understand the Arabic songs these days, and you're asking if I listen to American music. I mean, with Hisham Abbas and Khaled Agag and the stuff they sing. They sing words that we don't understand. So you don't know rap? I've heard it. Kids play that stuff to show off. So they can use their amplifiers, and hit on girls. …..  Did you like this article? 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