“I want my music to be an eye-opener for the girlies,” Taffy proclaims, as we sit on a couch nestled amidst XP Music Futures madness discussing, well, all things-Taffy. The young spitter started rapping at the age of 16, coming in strong, and ready to leave a punchy mark on anyone that comes across her bars. Hailing from Maadi, Cairo, Taffy’s distinctive accent carries echoes of Queens, New York, while her presence radiates a homegrown, undeniable fire. Some might know her from Rap Shar3’s “Sudan vs. Egypt” episode, where her freestyle Msh Balomhom stole the spotlight. Beyond her viral moments, one thing about the 25-year-old is crystal clear: she’s here to empower.
Taffy’s rap persona originated in an unlikely place: a Kik group chat dedicated to Nicki Minaj. At 12, she was nicknaming fellow fans with candy-inspired aliases when the question arose: what’s your favorite candy? “Taffy,” she answered, and thus, her moniker was born. “I changed my name on Kik to Taffy with a strawberry next to it, and it’s been that way since 2013,” she laughs.
On one fine evening at her friend’s house, Taffy felt the inclination to write a rap, after years of listening, and dissecting the lyrics of her favorite artists such as Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj. She recalls the pivotal moment with a grin,“I hopped on a beat and my first bar was dedicated to Lil Wayne,” she shares, breaking into the lyrics with pride: “Haters stay away from Weezy, if you mess with him, then you are messing with me. B—, please. You can never mess with the king. If he got that money, b—, he gotta pay.” That moment sparked a creative surge. “I realized I had the flow, the wordplay, everything. So, I started writing and posting on Twitter,” she explains.
From there, she made tracks that reverberated instantly with local audiences, empowering the girlies one bar at a time. Rap seemed to be a natural extension of Taffy’s bad-ass personality. Inspired by Nicki Minaj’s confidence and strength, she hopes to be a similar source of inspiration for her listeners. “I wasn’t that strong when I was younger. Like, I was quite the people pleaser. I was the girl that got bullied a lot. So, I didn’t know how to get out of that until I started listening to her music, blurting out her lyrics, and feeling myself while I’m saying it. Singing her music out loud made me confident.”
Reflecting on the societal expectations often placed on women, she explains: “Because we still have a culture where most people aspire to get married, settle down, and not pursue much beyond that,” she says. “I want to show them that you can work, earn your own money, and be independent. You don’t have to rely on anyone. At the same time, you can still be a loving and devoted wife while staying true to who you are,” she added.
When asked what message she hopes to champion through her lyrics, Taffy didn’t hesitate. Her goal, she explained, is to remind women that men aren’t everything in life. She wants to empower them not to lose themselves in relationships that undermine their sense of self and worth. “I’ve been through relationships where they really depleted my personality. Like, I forgot who I was. I forgot that I was, you know, the best female rapper in the damn scene, you know?” she says.
Taffy’s commanding voice and powerful presence have earned her the utmost respect among industry peers. However, outside the industry, she faces a different reality. Her music often draws comments rooted in narrow, outdated mindsets—attempts to dim the light of a woman who refuses to be silenced. Taffy herself explains, “Most people in Egypt, they’re like, ‘Oh, you need to go back to the kitchen and stop doing this.’ They just look at me like, ‘how dare you even think that you have a voice?’ So, I get a lot more hate than love.”
Embracing the masculine, as much as the feminine, Taffy unapologetically steps into both energy fields through her music. As she explains, “I guess they hate that. They’re like, ‘oh, I want to see a girl be a girl.’ They’ll listen to Nancy (Ajram) and Elisa and be like, ‘oh my God.’ But they’ll listen to Taffy spit bars and they’ll be like, ‘who do you think you are?’”
She adds, “They don’t like seeing a woman be cocky because that’s not what we were taught growing up. So, they just automatically assume I’m not a good person or I’m this, this, and that, or I’m not following the ‘morals’ that we’ve grown up on.”
Her versatility spans genres and vocal styles, blending the playful charm of her favorite, PinkPantheress, with the bold, unapologetic attitude of Nicki Minaj. “I’m trying my hand in different things these days, from drum and bass to melodic stuff,” she shares.
Touching on her versatility, Taffy highlights her vulnerable side too. “I love sharing how cute and vulnerable I can be with people. Some people might see that as weak. I don’t really care what people think, you know? That’s what I’m doing with my music— I’m being really vulnerable, yet very in your face.”
Her goal is simple: to help women love and value themselves. “I want the girls to know their worth and act on it. Not just say, ‘I love myself,’ but really live it,” she explains. With bars sharp enough to cut through societal expectations and a presence impossible to ignore, her music serves as a reminder that self-love is action, not just affirmation. The girls are in good hands.
Photos: Supplied
