Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
Ramy Essamās latest album, Resala Ela Magles Al Amn (A Letter to the Security Council), makes no effort to conceal its politics.
Much like Essam himself, a bona fide Egyptian rock star who rose to fame as the voice of the Egyptian revolution in 2011, the album is bold, direct and inventive: it combines guitars, drums, tabla, oud and darbukah to create something that evades definition.
The 12 tracks, which are primarily sung in Egyptian street language (sans the title song, which is performed in classical Arabic), take aim at intergenerational tensions in the Middle East.
But in person, Essam is anything but confrontational.
He was a smiling, laughing, affable ball of energy when he met me in the offices of Universal Music Mena in Dubai, shortly before the release of his album on June 25. He swiftly got comfortable on the couch, putting his boots up onto the cushions, with his substantial mane of coiled hair bouncing at every movement.
āHaving curly hair is the best,ā he said, when I complimented him.
A jovial remark, but beneath it something more grave: his long hair is a symbol of resistance. After all, just six years ago, it was forcibly cut off him during a brutal eight-hour arrest.
The journey of Tahrir Square singer Ramy Essam
That's off the last album.
Much like Essam himself, a bona fide Egyptian rock star who rose to fame as the voice of the Egyptian revolution in 2011, the album is bold, direct and inventive: it combines guitars, drums, tabla, oud and darbukah to create something that evades definition.
The 12 tracks, which are primarily sung in Egyptian street language (sans the title song, which is performed in classical Arabic), take aim at intergenerational tensions in the Middle East.
But in person, Essam is anything but confrontational.
He was a smiling, laughing, affable ball of energy when he met me in the offices of Universal Music Mena in Dubai, shortly before the release of his album on June 25. He swiftly got comfortable on the couch, putting his boots up onto the cushions, with his substantial mane of coiled hair bouncing at every movement.
āHaving curly hair is the best,ā he said, when I complimented him.
A jovial remark, but beneath it something more grave: his long hair is a symbol of resistance. After all, just six years ago, it was forcibly cut off him during a brutal eight-hour arrest.
The journey of Tahrir Square singer Ramy Essam
That's off the last album.
