Word: Mared - Odam El Nas

Sometimes, feeling misunderstood and wrongly judged forces you not to talk in the first place. This is the feeling that inspired Cairo-based rapper Mared to write 'Odam El Nas', the title track of his latest EP.

In this episode of Word, Mared explains how the EP traces his psyche across his upbringing, from childhood to young adulthood. Tracks like 'Oom O2af' capture the playfulness and carefree attitude of his early years, while 'Odam El Nas' takes on a broodier tone. Reaching a certain age brought with it a growing unease around people, one that made him study those around him more closely, and eventually led him to prefer his own company over anyone else's.

The song is also about the discomfort of that in-between phase: the transition from adolescence into early adulthood, when you're not quite convinced you've grown up, yet you're already trying to apply the lessons of your childhood. For Mared, this manifested as a desire to speak his mind that quietly curdled into silence, accompanied by a fear that his opinions simply wouldn't land. It's a feeling he suspects is more common than people let on; that moment in a room when someone wants to say exactly what they're thinking, but doesn't.

That same tension runs through the music video, directed by Omar Maged. Without spelling it out, the video portrays someone who feels out of place, surrounded by people performing a version of themselves for the world while privately being something else entirely.

Watch the full interview here: