Tul8te

(This article’s English version was produced with AI-assisted translation)

Tul8te (transliteration from the Arabic تووليت, meant to be pronounced like the English expression "too late") is an Egyptian artist about whom little is known. His identity remains a mystery, as his face is always covered by a hand-sewn balaclava, and it's haard to understand how he managed to gain success without any significant media support.
It was only in the second half of 2024 that he joined Mdlbeast, a rapidly rising Saudi label that is earning a leading spot in the Arab entertainment industry, but until that moment, his music was supported by very small independent labels, which didn’t stop his single "Layalina," released in early 2024 as part of the album "Tesh Shabab", from accumulating millions of streams on Spotify, YouTube, and local platforms.
The mystery of his denied identity may work to his advantage, as seen with the case of Liberato in Italy, and his music's originality is also remarkable, but the same can be said of many other artists who never managed to make it big. Whatever the combination of favorable factors was, Tul8te is currently a leading figure in the Egyptian music scene.

The album that marked his transition to Mdlbeast was released on July 25, 2024. Its official title in the Latin alphabet is "Cocktail Ghena'y" (musical cocktail), while in Arabic it is "كوكتيل غنائي للفنان تووليت حصرياً لحبايب قلبي" (transliteration: "Cocktail Ghena'y El Fannan Tul8te Hasriyyan El Habayeb Qalbi"), which translates to: "musical cocktail of artist Tul8te, exclusively for my loved ones".

The first track, "Mateegy A3ady Aleiky," opens with a percussive pattern that seems to reference the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil," but this illusion fades quickly: as other instruments come in, the song transforms into a blend of Arab pop and flamenco, with the voice treated with echo and autotune (the latter being present throughout the album, but used sparingly, mainly to add timbral nuances without overwhelming the natural tone of the artist's voice).
The result might remind of "Cara Italia" by Italian singer Ghali, but with a production that leans more towards independent music, specifically the bedroom pop movement. As Tul8te himself stated, the album was entirely produced in his room.

"Leh Benkhaby" is a jazzy pop track which leans towards Brazilian popular music, while "Habeeby Leh" features a sparse programmed rhythm, likely derived from the Iqa' Sa'idi (for an overview of the iqa'at of Arab music, see the excellent Maqam World database), an echoing voice that hints at cloud rap effects (noting that Tul8te is a singer, not a rapper), and a melody soaked with the romanticism of classic Arab pop. Journalist Jubran Haddad suggests it may be an homage to Amr Diab, one of the historic names in Egyptian music, and his "Habibi" (1988).

"Nafs El Kalam El Baghaneeh" dives into a sea of atmospheric synthesizers and r&b beats, while "Ba'eet Waheed" returns to flamenco, one of the most influential genres in Arab pop, just think of the iconic "Ouna" by Hamid El Shaeri, who in 1987 was one of the first local musicians to achieve success by blending flamenco arrangements with an ethereal, echo-modified vocal line. This fusion feels completely natural, given that flamenco itself originated as a blend of Gypsy and Arab-Andalusian cultures.

"Ba'eet Waheed" is also the first track on the album whose lyrics do not focus on romantic struggles (which work well in the context of the songs but are not particularly memorable on their own); instead, it touches on a sense of existential disorientation, a theme that has already been explored in more refined corners of Arabic music (think of Hamza Namira):

I am the one who chose to live far away and hide from life,
and I've seen so many people, but never found peace.
I was naive once, now I wonder what's wrong with me,
a million questions, but not a single answer in my mind.
Why doesn’t love come?
I’ve stayed alone with the sky.
I have words inside me that can’t be spoken,
and I chose to live distantly.
Is there something that will comfort us,
or something new to lighten our days?
And then you see something from afar,
suddenly it comes to you, and suddenly you fear it

Next come "3eneeki Loon El Sama Beleil," close to synthwave, and "Ezbet El Haggana Feen?" a downtempo piece with a flanger-affected beat, both featuring electric guitar solos at the end: the first one with a clear tone, the second with a saturated and distorted one.
The latter has the other interesting lyrics of the collection, again with a psychoanalytical cut:

We are walking, but we don't know where we’re going,
lost in the streets and houses at night
and there’s no one but us in this place,
but usually, it’s crowded
and when it starts to rain, everyone closes their doors
and the days slip through your hands,
but maybe all this is just illusion, tomorrow will reveal it
and we will forget what has passed, even though we didn’t reach it.
And if this isn’t the way,
it’s fine, we are not disturbed,
and we walk,
but where are we going?

The closing track "Lesa Baree'" is a transcontinental mutation, bringing in the two Americas (bossa nova rhythm, hip-hop verses) and the Arab world in the chanting melodies of the chorus and of the processed vocals in the background.

However, the "Cocktail Ghena'y" project has a second chapter: on November 15, 2024, Tul8te released a live session version of the album, both in audio and video format, played in a single take with a band of four anonymous musicians accompanying him.
Despite the studio album already being excellent, the live session surpasses it. While the tracklist has been shuffled, the songs are the same (with the only exception of "Lesa Baree'," which has been replaced by the hit "Layalina" from early 2024), and the arrangements are almost identical, but with two significant improvements: first, the music is allowed to breathe (as evidenced by the 30-minute total duration, compared to the original's 22 minutes), with more space for solos and digressions; second, the post-production is much lighter, making the sound more organic.
Listening to the live session, not only the originality and value of the songs emerge, but also those of the musicians involved: consider the new salsa piano outro in "Mateegy A3ady Aleiky," the much more virtuosic guitar solo in "3eneeki Loon El Sama Beleil", or the extended introductions in "Leh Benkhaby" and "Nafs El Kalam El Baghaneeh."

With its vast array of musical solutions, Tul8te's music could intrigue listeners even outside the Arab world, as suggested by the recently announced world tour and the interview he gave last October for the Grammy Awards website.

27/01/2025