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At this point, no one needs another breathless intro about how Arab rap is having “a moment.” The moment’s been here. Cemented. The numbers don’t lie: sold-out concerts, millions of streams and views, beefs that light up social media. But beyond the charts and fan hysteria, there’s something else brewing, a cinematic crossover.
Here are five Arab rappers who’ve recently stepped into acting, and delivered.
1. Daboor — Alam (2022)
The only non-Egyptian on this list, Daboor, part of Palestine’s powerhouse collective BLTNM, made his acting debut in Alam, the searing debut feature by Firas Khoury. Set in the occupied Galilee, Alam follows a teenager’s quiet act of resistance, taking down the Israeli flag from his school rooftop to replace it with the Palestinian one. Daboor plays one of the protagonist’s classmates, and he’s exactly who you’d expect: laid-back, razor-sharp, effortlessly charismatic. He doesn’t dominate screen time, but when he shows up, he steals the scene with his snarky one-liners, comic timing, and a quiet rebelliousness that mirrors his music. Alongside fellow BLTNM veteran Cheb Mouri, he helps ground the film’s emotional core in authenticity and relatability. Alam premiered at TIFF and won the Jury Prize at the Cairo International Film Festival.
2. Wegz — Bimbo (2021)
When Wegz made his acting debut, he did it big, starring alongside Egyptian heartthrob Ahmed Malek in Bimbo, Shahid’s slick, trippy crime series. Ahmed plays “Bimbo”, a dealer navigating Cairo’s criminal underworld, with his friend Gaber (Wegz), diving into an escalating vortex of conspiracies and absurdities.
“I wasn’t planning on acting just yet,” he said in an interview. “But when I read the script, I knew I had to do it.”
He fully committed; accent, attitude, aesthetic. He even nailed the Sa‘īdi dialect and received praise for it. The show was a hit, and Wegz clearly caught the acting bug as he’s been confirmed to star in a musical film directed by Adel Adeeb, making him a full-blown screen presence to watch.
3. Flex — Welad El Shams (2025)
Wegz isn’t the only actor who shared the screen with Ahmed Malek, and if Welad El Shams felt like Arab Fight Club, Flex was one of its punchiest surprises. The SHAYATEEN rapper played one of four boys raised in a brutal group home, bonded by loyalty and rage, as they take on the system, and their corrupted guardian. Flex plays one of the core crew: Wal‘a, Miftah, Qatayef, and his character, Almaz, each with distinct personas but shared trauma. The rapper brought real edge to the role, earning praise for his raw performance. According to Flex, he’s now taking acting workshops, aiming to push further into cinema.
4. Ziad Zaza — Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore (2025)
Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza is about to go international. He stars in Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore, the feature debut of Morad Mostafa, which just landed a coveted Un Certain Regard slot at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Egypt’s first in that section since Clash (2016). The film follows a young Sudanese migrant in Cairo navigating violence, invisibility, and hope.
While details about Zaza’s character, Zuka, are still unknown, this isn’t his first screen appearance. He previously acted in 60 Egyptian Pounds, a short film by Bimbo director Amr Salama. But this marks a breakout moment for the rapper.
5. Abyusif, Al Ghawy (2025)
The godfather of Egyptian trap, Abyusif, took his chaotic genius to television with Al Ghawy, where he played the larger-than-life character Ka3bela; a flamboyant, unpredictable whirlwind of ego and energy. True to form, he didn’t just act in the series, he also released a song in character called “Dayes 3al Kol,” further blurring the line between his rap persona and his on-screen alter ego.
Abyusif has always operated in a cinematic register with big visuals, dystopian aesthetics, and anthemic rage, so this move felt inevitable. But he’s actually good at it.
