After a prolific 18 months filled with releases on his label Maadi Town Mafia—including the EPs El Kebir and Star, with viral hits such as “Agana”, “Khamsa” (with FL EX), “DAWLETNA” (with Husayn) and “Scene Cypher 3” (featuring FL EX, Husayn, Lil Noby, and Tommy Gun)—rising Egyptian rapper Wingii makes a definitive statement with his debut album, Mangesto. Through these songs, he delves deeper into his personal experiences, exploring the contrasting recollections and memories from his childhood, reflecting the challenges of growing up, the resilience he needed to face reality at a young age—and the longing to get back home. As he examines the past, Wingii also surges forward to explore new sonic territories. Alongside the intense energy of Maadi Town Mafia’s Jersey drill style, he sets himself apart on I>Mangesto with experiments like the piano-ballad intro, the alternative rock vibe of “Arga3 El Beit” and the festive dance touches to the techno drill of “Sidi”. “Ana Wingii” flaunts both his raw talent and the darker shades of his artistic persona, before he celebrates the pleasures of life and bonds of friendship with an uplifting club sound on “Vida Loca”. Below, Wingii guides us through his album track by track, sharing behind-the-scenes stories of his creative process and what each song means to him. “Mangesto (Intro)" “Mangesto is my uncle, and the closest person to me. He has always been there since I was young. As my father has been always travelling since I was born, he only comes back during vacations. So my uncle Mangesto was like a father to me. I chose his name as the title for both the album and the intro track while recording new songs and trying to build the main concept of the album. My friend Dodi was there, thinking it out loud with me, so he asked a very profound question: ‘Who do you love the most? Who supports you and is there for you at every step?’ That’s when we started revisiting recollections from my childhood, and noticed how much I was talking about my uncle. At that moment, it felt like this is where I should begin. Through my uncle’s name, I began to recall my childhood in Imbaba [a district in northern Giza]. As I say in the intro, ‘I still remember the street and my home.’ That’s how it all began. “When I think about my childhood and what I have been through, I can’t help but think of Imbaba. There, any moment you step outside your house, you witness intense street fights, like those you used to see in movies, right before your own eyes. I would see people on their way to pray and others selling drugs. I still recall many random moments from Imbaba to this very moment. I tried to capture it all through this album. This intro is how I reflect on those memories. As I say, I have seen people earning their living—like those who work hard to provide—and those who sell for a living, those who sell drugs. I also sing about those who act like mates, then say crap about each other behind their backs.” “Yamma” (with Tommy Gun) “In ‘Yamma’, I sing to my mother, comforting her, not to be afraid about the future. I love this collaboration because it allowed me to express what I was going through and feeling at the time. I was narrating it as it was happening, this idea of being young, starting your own life, traveling away from home, working to find yourself and longing to return home, to see my mother once again.” “El Sekka Salka” (with Husayn) “Husayn is one of the closest people to me, and the one I’ve collaborated with the most. In the middle of [things taking off] with the Maadi Town Mafia crew in 2021, I met Husayn while I was working on the El Kebir EP. We used to meet very often, even though we weren’t really working on any of the new songs together at that time. Back then I used to live in the 6th of October city, and I would visit Maadi specifically to meet and set up. We got to know each other better as time went by and then we started collaborating. It was strong and on point right from the moment we took off. “‘El Sekka Salka’ is my favourite collaboration with Husayn. I was just listening to it…I wasn’t accustomed to the idea of hearing my own songs. I didn’t mind people hearing me, but I used to avoid listening to myself as I couldn’t really tame my inner critic. However, this collaboration with Husayn felt so good. I liked the idea of how he would start a bar and I would take it from there and continue, like shifting rounds. I appreciate this harmony and the bond we have personally and musically. The path was clear [like the song’s first lyric] and it really was a brotherly collaboration.” “Ana Wingii” “I love singing, as well as continuously experimenting with my music. I don’t want my fans to categorise me into a specific genre. I prefer doing what’s new and what makes me delighted, just like what happened here in Mangesto. I believe I was able to give a bold take on Jersey drill through ‘Ana Wingii’, capturing its sinister energy in a way I have never done before.” “Vida Loca” “This song gives people the music they love and gravitate towards most of the time, so it’s ‘Vida Loca’ that I would dedicate to my fans.” “Faked El Waat” (with Hleem Taj Alser) “While working on this, I wanted to tell the story of an experience I have been through with a girl I loved, and I felt that I am more able to express it now. That was the first time for me to sing and sound this vulnerable, especially throughout the chorus. It felt new to me sonically as well. In my verse I narrate how a four-year relationship ended on a random phone call. I tried to make it true to how I felt it. “Collaborating with Hleem Taj Alser was Dodi’s idea; I already knew him earlier since he’s our neighbour in Maadi. I have always loved his voice and had been listening to his songs for a while. Even my uncle Mangesto once told me that I should collaborate with Hleem, so we finally made that happen. I was already working on the song on my own before the idea of collaborating…came up to us. I was trying to tell this story differently, and since Hleem sings in that style, I felt like he would bring out the song that exact way. Hleem came to the studio, heard the finished songs on the album and told me that he likes the verse and the chorus I wrote for “Faked El Waat”, so we began working together on completing it. It went so smoothly. I am quite delighted about the outcome because I usually worry about the lack of chemistry in collaborations. But indeed, that wasn’t the case with Hleem; he knows how to bring the right vibe and it’s more than colour that we share.” “V.I.P.” (with Lorenzoo) and “Maganeen” (with FL EX & Shikago) “Most of my collaborations are within Maadi Town Mafia. The reason behind that is that we are always together, and they are the people I listen to the most—I mean Husayn, FL EX, Shikago, Lorenzoo, Lil Noby, Tommy and the rest of the crew here. It’s also because [working with them is] what I love doing the most. Of course, I wouldn’t mind collaborating with artists beyond M-Town Mafia, especially if I felt that the outcome would be great, so why not?” “Sidi” “We started working on this song with a loop, with Angham’s ‘Sidi Wesalak’ sample pre-added. I loved how dynamic this vibe felt and wanted to write something lighter, so I went in for more flexing and showing off—it’s the most common vibe when I’m with my brothers and the crew.” “3ady El Youm” “In comparison to my previous EPs and singles, I feel like this album marks a very significant development, sonically and lyrically, as well as in terms of production. Like, people weren’t used to listening to me sing something very personal about my life; I haven’t done that before, as I was leaning more into drill. So this album feels very diverse and more personal than ever. For example, people dig my collaboration with Husayn in ‘Ansak Wansahom’ [on El Kebir] as it had a lot going on melodically, but in terms of the production level, “3ady El Youm” gives in more to that direction but feels sonically denser. I feel like my music has become whole; I have learned a lot through my past experiences to reach this point. As I say, ‘And I tell myself to let the day pass, tomorrow will be better’—that’s how we navigate through hardships.” “Arg3 El Beit” (with Mahmoud Siam) “This song is the one I enjoyed working on the most through the creative process of this album. I wanted to express the family aspect of my narrative on a deeper level, singing about something that occurred to me while recording the album when I was away from home, way longer than usual. I was missing my mother and she started asking me constantly, ‘Where are you and when will you be back? It has been a long time already.’ I am honestly relieved that I was able to express that wide range of different emotions. The production played a very significant role in creating this atmosphere throughout the song. I was closely involved with the producers, selecting sounds that I dig and building the whole album together. This spirit was in the air all over “Arg3 El Beit” and the song gradually continued to get even better as we proceeded, until Mahmoud Siam, [Egyptian rock band] Massar Egbari’s lead guitarist, joined us and took it immediately to another level.”