Born and raised in Cairo, El Shazly began her musical journey as a member of Sick Gdrch, a Misfits cover band, before venturing into electronic production and composition. Her debut album, 2017’s ‘Ahwar’, earned global praise for its merging of heritage and innovation, and established Nadah as a leading figure in the contemporary music landscape. She appeared on the cover of The Wire in 2018 in an issue announcing “Cairo’s New Wave.”

El Shazly’s live performances are equally immersive, combining her enthralling voice with intricate sound manipulation and dynamic collaborations with other musicians. She has worked with a host of innovators including Sam Shalabi, Elvin Brandhi, Maurice Louca, and many more. She’s graced stages at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including Irtijal, Le Guess Who?, Rewire, Best Kept Secret, FIMAV, Roskilde, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Nusasonic, and Marfa Myths. Beyond her solo work, Nadah is an active contributor to Cairo’s independent music scene, supporting emerging artists and engaging in cross-disciplinary projects.

Nadah is also known for her soundtrack work. In 2022 she scored the film Les Damnés ne pleurent pas (The Damned Don’t Cry), that follows Fatima-Zahra and her teenage son Selim who move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she’s caught up in. El Shazly won the Best Original Music award at the Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival and at the Dublin International Film Festival. In the last year she’s also scored Last Party in R. Desert! by Mahmoud Sabbagh, and To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel.

In 2024, she released the experimental noise album ‘Pollution Opera’ with Welsh producer Elvin Brandhi. Facing hell in full defiance, their nine-track album covers the spectrum of electroacoustic fragments and vocalization, suspended between the roar of engines, evocative intonations and guttural retching.

Within ‘Laini Tani’, El Shazly’s immense, captivating voice weaves through impeccably crafted synth-work and a propulsive rhythmic foundation co-produced with 3Phaz, with Patrick Graham’s rattling percussion alongside. Layers of kinetic bass and scorching electronics intertwine like the labyrinthine backstreets of a city. Sarah Pagé’s harp adds a textural, dreamlike quality to El Shazly’s deftly constructed arrangement, an edifice of bold and physical design that’s also surreal and otherworldly. A mosaic of unconventional instrumentation interacts throughout, with Nadah at its centre as the architect and cynosure. Her commanding performance and vocal stylings act as a guide through this intricate ecosystem.