Egyptian Lover performs at Som Sevit as part of the Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp in Seoul, South Korea on Sept. 29, 2017. Credit: SonStar / Red Bull Content Pool
There is no forgetting “Egypt, Egypt.”
The hit song from 1984 defined the decade and remains as recognizable as other hits from the same era including Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s “The Message.”
It also inspired an entire generation of would-be beatmakers to save up money to buy a Roland TR-808.
The cut forever changed its creator, too.
Egyptian Lover—born Gregory James Broussard, now 62 years old and still running Egyptian Empire Records—recently reflected on the hit in an interview with Spin magazine, detailing its meticulous creation, and how it still holds up today.
“When I hear it compared to the other songs, I hear how clean it is. I always remember that engineer trying to milk me for that money, making us all better. Even though he did it for money, I thank him because he made it sound great. It was worth it,” Broussard said.
1983-1988 by The Egyptian Lover
Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky
This article appears in Aug. 06-12, 2026.
Related
Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief…
More by Ray Roa