THE HISTORY OF SHIK SHAK SHOK

Last Updated on May 23, 2024 by

 

The History of Shik Shak Shok

 

This song is probably one of the well known songs that seems to surpass every culture.  It is played at every celebratory event – from parties to nightclubs to weddings to ladies only events.  It has lasted over 50 years and shows no sign of stopping!

 

I honestly have hated this song for pretty much the entirety of my dance life ;P until I did a gig where it was played and suddenly its on pretty much every playlist I use now.

 

The song has all the elements – the catchy vocals, the strong drums & the veeeeery long taqasim.  I have luckily found a condensed version that grabs the best parts of the taqasim and wraps up the song in just over 3 minutes.  This song makes everyone smile & get up to dance – its universal!  This is the song where everyone gets a chance to be a star- synchronizing sinewy moves and powerful accents for well over 5 minutes.  The lyrics are easy & fun to sing along to so its a quick crash course in Arabic. 

 

Shik shak shok

Shik shak shok

Nassik ya habibi il rap w il rock

Wi ta aala nir’os baladi

Halawa

Shik shak shok

Shik shak shok

My darling, I’m going to make you forget about rap and rock

Come, let us dance baladi

How beautiful)

 

But what is the history behind this song??

 

This song was written by Hasan Aboud El Seoud who was an Egyptian composer and accordion player (hence the long taqasim) in 1974. It was pretty much an instant hit & appeared in 2 movies once of which featuring Soheir Zaki which probably added to the fandom.

 

Watch Soheir here.  See how different this original version is!

 

In 1990 the song was adapted and slightly edited under M Sound which added a more modern sound – more tambourine and less synthesizer and then of course the Mezdeke version emerged which  is probably the most popular & played version of this song.

 

“Shik shak shok” has no actual meaning – its just a fun sequence of words strung together and some say it mimics the sounds of the drum.

 

There are varied opinions about this song genre – some say it is old school shaabi and some strongly put it in the baladi category because of the long taqasim.  I would personally put it in the shaabi category because of when it was created but I would love to hear your thoughts!