Shaabi originated in Cairo from the 1920s to the 1940s, as in certain songs and themes of composer Sayyid Darwish, and from the 1940s to 1960s by mawwal singers Abu Dira and Anwar al-Askari and in songs by Shafiq Gallal, Mohamed abd el-Motleb, Mohamed el-Ezzabi and others.
It is considered as a form of the local urban music expressing the difficulties and frustrations of modern lower-class Egyptian life.
Because of its nature as street music, and widespread indifference to copyright law among Egyptians, Shaabi today is mainly distributed on pirated tapes and CDs.
Other well-known singers in the shaabi genre include Saad El Soghayer, Amina, and Abdelbaset Hamouda.
However the performers use mahraganat (meaning a big, loud, messy event; and a festival) to distinguish themselves from sha'bi.