Asmahanأسمهان

Click play to listen to Asmahan while you read!

Introduction

The Empire is crumbling, and a rogue prince with a price on his head is left with no choice but to flee with his pregnant wife and kids on a ship across the Mediterranean where , amidst the crashing waves, his wife gives birth to a baby girl whom they name "Hope." It sounds like the beginning to what could be a suspenseful and/or terribly cliche film, so it's hard to believe that this is really the story of one of the first modern Arab celebrities, the Syrian Druze princess turned Egyptian diva, Asmahan. The life of Asmahan at times has been likened to that of Édith Piaf or Princess Diana, and indeed, her life events contain the intrigue of both of these figures combined. The story of Asmahan is among the most interesting biographies of modern history, and has in many ways come to transcend the music of Asmahan itself, despite the fact that she is the voice of some of the most celebrated and cherished recordings in Arabic music history. Asmahan rivaled the iconic Om Kalthoum in fame during her career, and she performed some of the most difficult songs composed in Arabic. Her concerts and recordings were and continue to be adored by millions, and her stunning face with her bright green eyes remains one of the immortal images of Arab music history. The life of Asmahan captivates the masses for all these reasons, but also tells us much about the times she lived in, an extremely formative period for the Modern Arab World.

Biographical Information and Career

Asmahan's youth was directly impacted by the turmoil that affected the region at large, i.e., the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Born Amal al-Atrash, her father was Fahed al-Atrash, a Druze leader from Sweida of the Arab Druze Mountains in modern day Syria serving at that time as Governor of Demirci (western Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire. By 1917, the Empire was crumbling at the hands of the Allies, Britain and France, as World War I dragged on, and fearing for his and his family's safety, Fahed al-Atrash boarded a ship from Izmir to Beirut along with his pregnant wife and children. On that ship the wife of Fahed al-Atrash gave birth to baby Amal in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

These dramatic and inauspicious beginnings did not foretell the fame and fortune that Amal would soon amass. Soon after their flight, Fahed al-Atrash and his wife Aaliyah Menzer separated, and she left for Cairo with her young children. To support her family, Aaliyah sang and played oud at private parties, and this musical talent was imparted to her children, particularly Amal and her brother Farid, the famous singer and oud player known to the world as Farid al-Atrache (see picture at right for Asmahan with her brother Farid).

Asmahan recorded her first album at the age of sixteen, and was singing at venues such as the prestigious Cairo opera house from the very beginning of her career, working with major composers such as Farid Ghosn, Daoud Hosni, Zakaria Ahmed and Mohamed El Qasabji. However, soon after, she was brought back home to her family's native Sweida in Syria after her cousin, the prince Hassan al-Atrash, asked for her hand in marriage. She had one daughter with Hassan and spent four years as a Druze princess in Sweida, however, this Druze mountain lifestyle did not suit Asmahan who had grown up living in the bustling modern city of Cairo, and thus, she and Hassan divorced and she returned to Egypt. There, Asmahan amassed greater and greater fame, rivaling Om Kalthoum in popularity and starring in two films during the 1940s entitled Victory of Youth (انتضار الشباب) and Passion and Revenge (غرام وانتقام).

Asmahan's love life was subject to public scrutiny, which did not prevent her in any way whatsoever from engaging in what was considered scandalous behavior by Egyptian moral standards. Asmahan was linked to many men throughout her career, and she was briefly married to multiple men working in show business, with none of her relationships lasting very long. She was also linked to the journalist Mohamed al'Taba'i. Many Egyptians were outraged and offended by this behavior, which would normally not be allowed due to societal and family pressures, however, they were at the same time drawn to it, and Asmahan's position as a celebrity and indeed powerful woman free of the domination of her family allowed her to occupy the space of the independent working woman of today, the first of her kind in modern Egyptian society.

During World War II, Asmahan became politically involved with the Allies, and was enlisted by the French to serve as an envoy to her people, asking that the Druze side with the Free French and allow them to move freely in Syria, which had come into the hands of the Vichy government after Germany took over France during the War. The Allies were successful in Syria in part due to the cooperation of the Druze, and Asmahan was thanked personally by Charles de Gaulle for her efforts.

This should have been the peak of a long musical and, who knows, political career as princess, singer and movie star, but tragedy befell Asmahan in July of 1944 when her car carrying her and a female friend plunged into the Nile after her driver, who survived, by leaping from the vehicle, lost control. Of course, conspiracy theories abounded. Some said she was assassinated by the British after possibly betraying them and working as a double agent; others said she was killed by the German Gestapo. Certainly either of the two was capable of such an act. Still others blamed her rival Om Kalthoum, or her many former lovers who can have sought revenge. This is added to the fact that Asmahan was known to have had an irrational fear of water from a young age based on an alleged Gypsy prediction. However, the truth was never fully known.

Despite her career being cut short when she was just 36 years old, Asmahan left behind a modest volume of songs. Here is a sampling of songs available on the site:

Is'iniha أسقينيها
Ahwa أهوى
Imta Hataaref إمتى حتعرف translation available
Intisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
Ayuha al Naim أيها النائم
Ana Illi Estahel أنا اللي أستاهل
Al-Leel الليل
Dakhelt Fi Marra Jenina دخلت في مرة جنينة translation available
Rigaet Lak رجعت لك
Aleek Salat Allah عليك صلاة الله
Kan Lee Amal كان لي أمل
Layali al Uns ليالي الأنس translation available
Ya Bida El Ward (يا بدع الورد)
Ya Dierti يا ديرتي
Ya Toyour يا طيور translation available
Ya Habibi Taala يا حبيبي تعالtranslation available

Asmahan also starred in two films, the second of which was not released before her death in 1944,

1941: Intisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
1944: Gharam wa Intiqam غرام وانتقام

Her Music and Impact

Taken apart from her intriguing private and public life and her breathtaking good looks, Asmahan's singing in and of itself was enough to make her an important feature of Egypt's modern cultural history. Asmahan possessed extraordinary vocal abilities and exceptional range, utilizing both Arab and European singing techniques (i.e. singing both from her chest and nose as did Om Kalthoum in addition to using an opera-style head voice, similar to the old Italian singers and Lebanese singer Fairuz), making her especially versatile, as can be seen if one compares "I Once Entered a Garden (دخلت في مرة جنينة)" and "Oh Birds (يا طيور)", which are in fact two technically very different parts of the same composition.

However, Asmahan is most noteworthy for her unique social role in the young modern Egyptian society and her continued role in the imagined history of the region, because Asmahan, more than any other celebrity, was directly affected by the tumultuous events of the modern Arab World's becoming, and was at often times, at odds with a society that sought to define her every-changing female role. Sherifa Zuhur comments at length on Asmahan's place in Arab society in her 1988 book Asmahan's Secrets (click here to read the introduction). The world of Asmahan's family was turned upside-down by the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which marked the beginning of a new era in the modern Arab states. As an immigrant in a truly foreign country (the notion of Syria and Egypt being sister Arab nations had not yet been established) in Cairo, Asmahan was able to take on a liberated alternate persona that allowed her to be a shocking, yet ultimately socially acceptable diva figure in Egyptian society. Asmahan was quite possibly the Arab World's first sex symbol, creating a new kind of entertainment in the new social space of the night clubs and opera houses of British Mandate Cairo. Yet, she was not immune to the effect of patriarchy and traditional rule of the family over the individual. Her return to Sweida, her marriage to her cousin as a teenager, and her eventual pregnancy were all very much contrary to the life that Asmahan seemed to imagine for herself, as she much preferred her celebrity life in Cairo.

Moreover, her political involvement during World War II reflects the uncomfortable and difficult choice with which so many Arab notables of the times were faced; which side to join in a war of outsiders. The French and British had colonized the Middle East and dismantled the Ottoman Empire, which itself was seen as a colonizer by Arabs; yet, in the end many Arabs sided with the Allies during World War II when faced with the possibility of the Third Reich taking over. The details of Asmahan's life are confusing, much like history of the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine in which she operated. Asmahan's story gives us a sense of the kind of change and upheaval that was taking place in the Arab World of the first half of the 20th century.

And thus, the legend of Asmahan is still being used to legitimize historical narratives of the time. As recently as 2008, a mini-series entiteld Asmahan was launched in Syria starring Syria's most enchanting TV star Sulaf Fawakherji (see right) depicting the events of Asmahan's life, casting it with a very Arab nationalist tone. Perhaps because she died so young, when the Arab nations themselves were in their very infancies, the legend of Asmahan remains one of the juiciest bits of Arab celebrity gossip sixty years after her death, and her music continues to play on Arab radio to this day.

Asmahan - O Birdsأسمهان - يا طيورYa Toyour

Part two of Dakhelt fi Marra Genina (دخلت في مرة جنينة) composed by Farid al Atrache for his sister Asmahan. To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - O Birds O birds Sing of my love and chant my passion and hopes To the one who is right beside me not paying attention to what's happening to me (i.e. in her love) I complain to him and he smiles and makes me grow fonder of him O birds Describe him my state of sleeplessness and sobbing (literally tears)

The birds sang the sweetest words from the treetops
The branches swayed from the felicity of their melodies
And my heart was infatuated
And the breeze blew gently carrying their beautiful sound
As the flowers emanated the fragrance of longing
And the brook sang along with them

The air filled with tenderness sending away my longing and disgrace
Oh how I hope his affection and love and favor will be mine

He's happy with his handsomeness and youth, devoid of sorrows
If he was in love, sleepless, feeling what I feel
He would cry from his torment and wail along with the crying birds (literally, the curlew, which apparently is a bird that makes a crying sound, we don't have them in north America)

أسمهان - يا طيور

يا طيور غني حبي وانشدي وجدي وآمالى
للي جنبي واللــي شايف ماجرى لي

اشتـــكى لـــه يبتسم ويزيـــد ولوعـــــي
ياطيور صوري له حالي من سهدى ودموعي

غنت الاطيار من فوق الاشجار اعذب الاشعار
مالت الاغصان من هنا الالحان والفؤاد ولهان

والنســــيم يســــــري عليل يحمل الصوت الجمــيل
والزهور فاحت بعطر الاماني والغدير ردد معاها الاغاني

امتلا الجو حنان يشرح الشوق والهوان
ياريت نصيبي عطفه ووداده وميله ليه

سعيد بحسنه وشبابه خالي من الاشجان
لو كان بيعشق ونابه حظي وانا سهران
لا كان بكى من عذابه وناح مع الكروان

Lyrics transcription from here

Asmahan - Once I Entered a Garden أسمهان - دخلت في مرة جنينةDakhelt fi Marra Genina

Composed for Asmahan by her brother Farid al-Atrache. For part two of the song entitled El Tuyour الطيور (The Birds), click here. To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - Once I Entered a Garden Once I entered a garden to smell the scent of the flowers And distract my sad soul and listen to the song of the birds I looked and found on the branches a nightingale with his mate Standing with her in silence It made me happy to see him

He put his wing around her as he took care of her tenderly
And from his love for her, he sang her a comforting song

And then he said to her "My angel, anything you need just ask"
"I'd give my life and soul for you, don't ever leave me"

And after a long while of drinking from the cup of togetherness
His beautiful lover started to play hard to get

She flew off without checking up on him, leaving him in agony
Poor guy, my heart goes out to him
Passion has melted his heart

He stayed up that night counting the stars as the full moon watched over him
His worries grew upon him, but where could he find the strength to go on (or patience)?

And what also increased his torment was that his lover had gone to another
And made his affliction worse
My dear, he got a bad lot

I left feeling sorry for him
His situation could make a rock cry
He maintained his love for her, and she betrayed the covenant of their love

أسمهان - دخلت في مرة جنينة

دخلت مرة جنينة اشم ريحة الزهور
وسلّي نفسي الحزينة واسمع نشيد الطيور

بصيت لقيت على الغصون بلبل ويّا وليفته
واقف معاها بسكون انا فرحت لما شفته

فارد جناحه عليها وبيراعيها بحنان
وهو من حبه فيها غنلها لحن الأمان

وقال لها يا ملاكي اللي تعوزية اطلبيه
روحي وعقلي فداك حبيبك أوعي تسيبيه

وبعد مدة طويلة في شرب كاس الوصال
لقت حبيبته الجميلة زادت عليه الدلال

طارت ما سألتش فيه وخلفتله العذاب
مسكين يا روحي عليه قلبه من الوجد داب

سهر يعد النجوم والبدر شاهد عليه
طالت عليه الهموم وبس يصبر بإيه

واللي كمان زاد عذابه وليفته لافت بغيره
وزودتله مصابُه وساء يا روحي مصيره

خرجتِ صعبان علي حالتُه تبكّي الجماد
حفظ ودادها وهيّ خانت عهود الوداد

Lyrics transcription from here

Asmahan - When Will You Realize?أسمهان - امتى حتعرفImta Hataref

This song is from Asmahan's second and final film entitled Gharam Wa Intiqam غرام وانتقام (Passion and Revenge) which was not completed before she died in a mysterious and fatal car accident in July of 1944. To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Line by line explanation in the Egyptian Arabic Course Blog

Asmahan - When Will You Realize? When will you realize? When will you realize I love you When will you realize that I love you When, when, when When will you realize

(Hear that, she's talkin to you kid)
(You talkin to me?)
(Huh? no, uh, I made a mistake sir, I'm confused, talking to myself...)

I confide in your specter, and I hope to see you
You've never felt sorry for me or check up on me
How long are you going to keep confusing me and adding to my troubles
You whose lose is in my imagination and my soul and my blood

(hear that? this is like a love letter to you) he said this with a Lebanese accent
(I don't understand what you're saying)
(You don't understand anything)

I kept on hiding my love for you
My love for you in my heart
I kept on hiding my love for you in my heart
And told myself to be patient and consoled myself as the fire inside me grew
And I figure to tell you how I feel and divulge my love to you
Could your heart not be aware as my heart suffers?
You whose lose is in my imagination and my soul and my blood

You made me love you and I hope to be close to you
Grace me one day with your presence and have mercy on me
And you'll taste my passion that is wounded by you
I'm singing for you!
You whose lose is in my imagination and my soul and my blood

أسمهان - امتى حتعرف

إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إمتى
إمتى حتعرف إمتى إمتى إمتى
إمتى حتعرف

(سامع؟.. الكلام إلك يا جارة)
(إنتّ بتكلمني؟)
(نعم؟.. لأ!.. غلطان يا بيي.. عمقروِش.. بحكي مع حالي)

بناجي طيفك واتمنى أشوفك
لا يوم عطفتِ عليّ ولا انتَ سائل فيَّ
وِلإمتى حَتحيّر بالي وتزوّد همّي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي
إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إمتى..

(سامع؟.. هيّ رسالة غرام إلك..)
(مالي فاهم عليك..)
(إنت مالك فهمان شي..)

فضلت اخبّي حبك، حبك بقلبي حبّك
فضلت أخبّي
وصبّره وواسيه والنار بترعى فيه
وخفت أقللك على حالي واشرح لك حبي
ليكون فؤادك مش داري وتعذّب قلبي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي
إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إمتى..

خلتني أحبك واتمنى قربك
اسعدني يوم بلقاك ترحمني فيه برضاك
وتدوق غرامي اللي جرحته
أنا لك بغنّي
ليكون فؤادك مش داري وتعذّب قلبي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي
إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إمتى

Lyrics transcription from here

Asmahan - Come My Darlingأسمهان - يا حبيبي تعالYa Habibi Taala

Updated media and translation

To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - Come My Darling My darling come follow me Look what's happened to me In your absence I'm sleepless and obligated to confide in your specter Who could equal you? I'm holding in my passion, and my passion is consuming me And I have no father or mother or uncle to complain to about the torment of your love

My soul, heart, body, mind and beauty are in the palm of your hand
I don't know what do you with you teasing me and rejecting me
Why should I hide my passion when it is consuming me?
I'll complain, cry and speak, and perhaps, my dear, your heart will soften

I send letters and write responses complaining to you, dnd it hurts
I've been silent, patient and satisfied with this state from the start
I'm holding in my passion, and my passion is consuming me
And I'd give you my life and soul for you, my family, everything I own
And you don't ask

أسمهان - يا حبيبي تعال

يا حبيبى تعالا الحقنى شوف اللى جرالي....من بعدك
سهرانه من واجبى باناجى خيالك ... مين قدك
و انا كاتمة غرامى، و غرامى هالكنى
و لا عندى لا أب و لا أم و لا عم أشكيلة ... نار حبك

روحى و قلبى و جسمى و عقلى و جمالى ... فى يدك
محتارة اعملك اية فى دلالك ... و ف_صدك
لية هاخبى غرامى ... و غرامى هالكنى
لأشكى و أبكى و أحكى بلك يا غزالى ... يلين قلبك

يا حبيبى تعالا الحقنى شوف اللى جرالي....من بعدك
سهرانه من واجبى باناجى خيالك ... مين قدك
و انا كاتمة غرامى، و غرامى هالكنى
و لا عندى لا أب و لا أم و لا عم أشكيلة ... نار حبك

أبعت مراسيل و اكتب جوابات اشكيلك ... و اتألم
ساكتة و صابرة و راضية بأحوالك ... م_الأول
و انا كاتمة غرامى ... و غرامى هالكنى
وافديك بحياتى و روحى و اهلى و مالى ... و لا تسألش

روحى و قلبى و جسمى و عقلى و جمالى ... فى يدك
محتارة اعملك اية فى دلالك ... و ف_صدك
لية هاخبى غرامى ... و غرامى هالكنى
لأشكى و أبكى و أحكى بلك يا غزالى ... يلين قلبك

يا حبيبى تعالا الحقنى شوف اللى جرالي....من بعدك
سهرانه من واجبى باناجى خيالك ... مين قدك
و انا كاتمة غرامى، و غرامى هالكنى
و لا عندى لا أب و لا أم و لا عم أشكيلة ... نار حبك

Asmahan - I've Come Back to Youأسمهان - رجعت لكRigaet Ilik

To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - I've Come Back to You Translation coming soon

أسمهان - رجعت لك

Asmahan - Ya Dirtiأسمهان - يا ديرتيYa Deirti

To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan Translation coming soon

أسمهان - يا ديرتي

Arabic Lyrics

Asmahan - Nights of Merrimentأسمهان - ليالي الأنسLayali El Ons

Asmahan's brother Farid al-Atrache participated in the composition of this piece. A love song set in Vienna, which is envisioned as paradise, something hard to imagine given that the song was recorded in 1944, the same year that the Allies reached Vienna and began bombing at the end of World War II. Cairo isn't paradise, but it's not that bad, is it?

To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - Nights of Merriment Nights of merriment in Vienna Her breeze is from the airs of paradise A melody so fair ringing in the air Upon hearing it the birds weep and sing along

And amidst the clinking of glasses and the ring of the melody
You sway in time like branches in the breeze

Achieve happiness for your soul
Let your heart rejoice
Your loved ones are all around you
It is nothing short of paradise

Enjoy your youth here in Vienna
For Vienna is a garden of Eden

A moment of bliss
If you can have it, you forget the whole universe in it
What will remain of this happiness other than its shadow?
A specter walking among your illusions, a ghost running among your dreams
Why wait for the days to pass without a word?

Celebrate, sing, send your heart swimming on the air, soaring to find a companion in this world
To rejoice in his company, to be happy in his love
Enjoy your youth while your heart is with him

أسمهان - ليالي الأنس


ليالي الأنس في فيينا نسيمها من هوا الجنّة
نغم في الجوّ له رنّة سمع لها الطير بكى وغنّى

ما بين رنين الكاس ورنّة الألحان
قد الأوان ميّال تعاطف الأغصان

تمّ النعيم للروح والعين ما تخلّي قلبك يتهنّى
آدي الحبايب عالجنبيتن إيهِ اللي فاضل على الجنّة

متّع شبابك في فيينا دي فيينا روضة من الجنّة
نغم في الجوّ له رنّة سمع لها الطير بكى وغنّى

ساعة هنا. لو تفضالك. تنسى معاها الكون كلّه
إيه اللي رايح يبقالك من النعيم ده غير ظلّه
خيال ساري مع الأوهام وطيف جاري مع الأحلام
وليه تصبر على الأيام تفوت من غير ما تتكلّم

دي ليلة الأنس في فيينا نسيمها من هوا الجنّة
نغم في الجوّ له رنّة سمع لها الطير بكى وغنّى

افرح. واطربْ. ابعت قلبك يسبح ويطير
في الدنيا دي يلقله سمير

تهنا بقربه، وتسعد بهواه
واتهنّي شبابك والقلب معاه
دي فيينا روضة من الجنة يسعد لياليكي يا فيينا
نغم في الجوّ له رنّة سمع لها الطير بكى وغنّى

Lyrics transcription from here

Asmahan - The Roseأسمهان - الوردEl Ward

To read more about Asmahan, see her bio here

Asmahan - The Rose Translation coming soon

أسمهان - الورد

يا بدع الورد ...... يا جمال الورد

من سحر الوصف قالو على الخد

الورد الورد ياجمالو ......

الاحمر من بدعو وجد وهيام

الطفــــــــــ يا لطيف

والاصفر من ريحتو
غيــــــــره ولالام

ارحم يا رئيف

والابيض دلعاته ريحه وغرااااااااااااااام

أأطف يا شريف

رسول العشاق ..سميرالمشتاق

الورد .. الورد .. الورد يا جماله

يا بدع الورد يا جمال الورد

نادي ي وردك يا خولي
اوعى يجرحك شوكو واسهر عليه

نادي حبك يا هايم

احسن يألمك شوكو واعطف عليه

هادي حبك يا عاشق وردك ينعشك طوئو
واقبل اديه.... واقبل اديه

رسول العشاق سمير المشتاق
الورد .. الورد .. الورد يا جماله

Egyptian Music

Egypt is the largest Arab country, with about 80 million people living mostly along the Nile river running from Aswan near the Sudan border to Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. As a regional geographic, economic and population center, Egypt is center of cultural production in the Arab world, and the Egyptian dialect has become widely understood thanks to the dissemination of Egyptian films, television programs and music.

The story Egyptian music begins in the colonial era before World War II. During the 1920s and 1930s, the most prominent Egyptian composer was Mohammed Abdel Wahhab, who adapted many poems such as those of Ahmed Shawky to music and made the soundtracks to many Egyptian films.

Abdel Wahhab often wrote songs for the most prominent singer of this time period and Egyptian music history is Om Kalthoum. Known as Kawkab al-Sharq (Star of the East), she rose to prominence in the 1940s and remained the adoration of the Egyptian public every since. With the nationalist movement and the revolution of 1952, Om Kalthoum became a national symbol for Egypt and many of her songs of this period are nationalistic in nature. She died in 1975, but remains probably the most well-known Arab performer throughout the world and certainly throughout Egypt.

At the beginning of Om Kalthoum's career, there was another very popular female singer named Asmahan, who was a descendent of Druze royalty and sister of Farid al-Atrache that moved to Cairo. She produced several songs and films, but died in car crash under some dubious circumstances, and rumors abound that she may have been a Soviet spy. Because of her mysterious beauty and her premature death, Asmahan is a legend in the world of Arabic music.

Abdel Halim Hafez is another Egyptian singer who became very famous in post-independence Egypt. He is known for singing love songs of epic proportion like Om Kalthoum and a trademark smile. Like most Egyptian singers of this time, he starred in several musical films. He died fairly young, at age 48 in 1977, and thus remains a musical legend in Egypt. In 2006 a film called "Haleem" starring the late Egyptian film legend Ahmed Zaki as Abdel Halim Hafez. The Natacha Atlas album entitled "Halim" is named so in honor of Abdel Halim.

Today there are many Egyptian pop stars, none more famous and legendary than Amr Diab. He became internationally famous with the song "Nour el-Ayn" during the 1990s, and remains the king of Egyptian pop today. Amr Diab is now known for his ageless face, which appears quite young despite the fact he is approaching 50.

Mohammed Mounir is an artist from Upper Egypt born in Aswan. He is known for blending Arabic musical styles with more African styles. He has also been outspoken about issues such as religion and politics. After September 11, he sought to learn more about his religion, Islam, and has since been critical of both Muslims who do not practice responsibly and Westerners who hold outrageous misconceptions about Muslims. He has also been a long supporter of the Palestinian cause, and a peace advocate in general.

The two singers Sherine Ahmed (born Sherine Abdel Wahhab) and Tamer Hosni have become very popular in Egypt during the past few years. They rose to prominence together with a mix CD that contained both singles and duets. Now both have successful solo careers and have released many albums.

Shaaban Abdel Rahim is a well-known and controversial figure in Egyptian Shaabi pop music. He is a sort of rags to riches story in that he worked as a low-wage laundary man for years before his songs became popular. His typically no frills songs focus on catchy lyrics and expressing popular ideas, such as his 2000 songs called "I Hate Israel" and his 2003 song "Don't Hit Iraq" have made him a beloved figure, despite his lack of fashion sense. Hakim is another singer in the Shaabi genre who has sold millions of albums since the early 1990s.

The first Egyptian hip-hop group to achieve success is MTM. Their 2003 album entitled "Ummi Mesafra" (My Mom is Away) was groundbreaking in the world of Arab pop music. Although some of their singles are mostly pop much like Will Smith in the United States, some of their songs deal with social issues using humor.