Last week, El Kontessa, also known as Fajr Soliman, has released her highly-anticipated debut album “Nos Habet Caramel”. The Cairo-based producer, DJ, and multidisciplinary artist smoothly combines elements of Pop and Mahraganat music while deconstructing familiar and nostalgic sounds, incorporating textures and blending them with the unique soundscapes of Cairo.
KALTBLUT caught up with the versatile artist to chat about her debut album as part of our #TheCulturalConnection series.
KALTBLUT: Can you tell me about your latest release?
El Kontessa: “Nos Habet Caramel” was released on July 28, 2023. It’s my debut album. It came out of a preoccupation with Cairo sounds, or at least Cairo sounds as I heard them. It follows my stories and encounters with places, especially as these places changed, and with the way they did.
KALTBLUT: Your album is a blend of several genres and influences, such as elements of Mahraganat. Was that a deliberate choice or did that come organically?
El Kontessa: My music tends to reflect what I’m surrounded by and what I listen to. I think it’s the opposite, actually: it would be a deliberate choice to not play these sounds at all, because of my relationship with them in real life. So my references have always been ‘organic’ in that sense.
But these sounds have also changed and multiplied since I started DJing. At first, I began with mahraganat elements because that’s what I was used to listening to everywhere. Soon, it also became what my music was associated with. But over time, shaabi features blended naturally with the many other things I enjoy, which was necessary. And even more important to the process of making this album was how I heard these things in relation to each other.
KALTBLUT: What identity would you give your “Nos Habet Caramel”?
El Kontessa: I could describe it as playful. But it’s also an album with a crisis. Parts of it are sad or angry. But these are also mixed in with other feelings. There’s hot pink, dark grey, purple and green. Some parts disassociate, and moods that swing. But there’s also a sensitivity in all of it, which I think is an important part of it.
KALTBLUT: What role does culture play in your music?
El Kontessa: For me, there is no way to separate culture from the music it makes (and is made by.) It’s also hard to see it as one big thing, this idea of culture. All of the different genres I listen to come out of some subculture that has reached me in a local way. And all of these subcultures talk to one another and combine and diverge.
I also have different relationships with each of them. Not everything I’m familiar with I agree with, and not everything I hear a lot I like. For example, I may immerse myself, or move away from, a particular style—even one I’m influenced by—for many reasons, as a reaction or to experiment or critique or develop something. But in the end, the references are still there. I can’t exclude myself from these cultures or block out their influence on my work, even if I wanted to.
Purchase El Kontessa’s album on Bandcamp and follow her on Instagram at @elkontessa_ to keep up with upcoming releases and tour dates.
You can revisit all Cultural Connection interviews at #TheCulturalConnection here.
