Following several visits to the city over the years, Osama (Sam) Shalabi moved to Cairo in 2011, arriving at an apartment one block from Tahrir Square, in the midst of Egypt's 'Arab Spring'. Shalabi describes the Big Mango, his 2013 phenomenal work for his Land of Kush big-band, as "a love letter to Cairo" framed by "the beautiful, surreal madness of the city... as joyous, horrific, historical events were unfolding".