A distinct visual shift is unfolding across North African music: artists in Morocco and Egypt are reviving the grainy textures, bold colors, and lo-fi charm of late-1990s and early-2000s media. The trend draws heavily on childhood memories, satellite television, and the era’s pop culture, reimagined through a contemporary lens.
Moroccan Nostalgia in VHS and Satellite TV
In his video for Zid Sawt, Moroccan artist Tawsen recreates a retro living room complete with brown furniture, intricate wallpaper, and a tube TV. The scene deliberately echoes the iconic Youm Wara Youm clip by Cheb Mami and Samira Said, with Tawsen himself stepping into the frame in a dark suit, his voice filtered through a Raï-inspired distortion.
“The visual concept started with a memory,” Tawsen said. “I wanted the opening to feel like you’re stepping into a different era, almost like watching an old VHS tape or an early 2000s music video. That nostalgic framing wasn’t just an aesthetic choice; it was a tribute.”
Working with Paris-based Moroccan director Farid Malki, the video layers personal and collective nostalgia. Tawsen described how Malki added his own childhood details: “The old television that instantly reminds you of coming home after school to watch 2M, the colorful candies every Moroccan kid remembers, the old school notebooks, the deck of cards… It became his madeleine de Proust inside my madeleine de Proust, and I love that.”
Egyptian Artists Embrace Camcorder Aesthetics and MTV-Era R&B
In Egypt, a parallel revival is taking shape through lo-fi digital camcorder textures, fisheye lenses, and saturated color grading. The video for Hayati by Egyptian rapper Felukah and Palestinian DJ Habibeats, co-directed by Lewis Atallah and Mattias Russo-Larsson, channels early-2000s house parties and MTV-era R&B. Handheld footage, Y2K fashion, and a late-night, intimate atmosphere pair with bouncy trap and garage percussion.
“We were inspired by Pink Pantheress and really wanted to create that Y2K sound in Arabic because not a lot of artists are doing that,” Felukah said. “We both love 2000s music and were alchemizing and thinking of that era. It was [Atallah’s] idea to shoot on film and showcase an unconventional party scene filled with paradoxical moments.”
Marwan Moussa‘s matrosh pays homage to Egyptian cinema and pop culture at the turn of the millennium. Co-directed by El Antably and Mohamed Aboelella, the video uses early digital TV framing, CRT monitor textures, and exaggerated action-comedy character tropes. Moussa’s lyrics reference burned CD-ROMs and bootleg media, flexing “I have 100,000 CDs, shut up.”
Album Rollouts as Cinematic Tributes
Moroccan rapper Dizzy DROS structured his recent album AFLAM (films) as a cinematic experience, with each song representing a movie scene. Promotional materials, the official announcement, and the first music video span classic blockbusters, early DVD menus, and nostalgic Arab satellite TV channel aesthetics such as Melody Hits and Mazzika, the latter also referenced in Tawsen’s Zid Sawt.
Egyptian superstar Wegz teamed up with Disco Misr for Keify Keda, a video directed by Khaled Mokthar that draws from kitschy Y2K commercials. Disco Misr are known for flipping late-90s and 2000s Arab pop samples, and Wegz’s performance captures the campy energy of daytime pop shows from that period. His boldly colorful outfit references the legendary Egyptian monologue artist, actor, and puppeteer Mahmoud Shokoko (1912–1985), blending theatrical, street-smart vintage style with classic mid-century Egyptian pop and sha’abi culture.
Moving Forward Through the Past
While the videos for Keify Keda and Zid Sawt highlight aesthetic differences between Moroccan and Egyptian culture in the 2000s, both artists approach storytelling with a similar sense of play. “I’m naturally a bit goofy; I like making people laugh, playing characters and not taking myself too seriously,” Tawsen said. “If that means doing my best Cheb Mami impression, or redesigning the legendary Mazzika logo into the logo of SAWT, my own label, then why not?”
Despite the surge of nostalgic sounds and visuals, Tawsen does not view the trend as simply looking backward. “For me, it’s another way of moving forward with confidence without forgetting where I come from,” he said. “Whether people recognize the references or not, if it reminds them of their own childhood, their family, or a moment that meant something to them, then we’ve created something bigger than just a music video.”
