Ramy Essam
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Ramy Essam ( ar, رامي عصام, ; born 1987 in
Mansoura Mansoura (' , rural: ) is a city in Egypt, with a population of 960,423. It is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic means "victorious". The city is named after the El Mansoura Battle against Louis IX of Fr ...
) is an
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
musician. He is best known for his appearances in
Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Ramy is one of the few singers in
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
to sing hard rock. In 2011, Ramy was considered the voice of the Egyptian revolution. During the height of the uprising, Ramy performed in front of millions of people in the Tahrir Square. His song Irhal, in which then
Egyptian president The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egy ...
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
was urged to resign, gained popularity among the demonstrators. It became internationally known through
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, and is referred to as the anthem of the revolution. In 2011, it was selected by '' Time Out'' as the third-most world-changing song of all time. His 2018 song Balaha led to six individuals being arrested in Egypt that were, either correctly or incorrectly, assumed to be connected to Ramy and the song. Among them were the writer of the song, but also a former band member that had not worked on the record. In May 2020 Shady Habash one of the detainees died After being incarcerated for more than two years in pretrial detention. Egypt's public prosecutor has said he mistakenly drank hand sanitiser in his cell, thinking it was water. Ramy's songs were banned in Egypt and he was unable to perform public shows. Since late 2014, Ramy has been living in
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and Sweden, which gave him again the chance to create and perform freely to spread his message as an ambassador of the Egyptian revolution. During 2016 and 2017, Ramy toured throughout Finland with the theatre monologue RAMY – In the Frontline, which also gathered 5 stars reviews at the Fringe Festival Edinburgh. Ramy stands for gender equality, freedom, social justice, equity, health care, minority rights, education and peace.


Discography


Albums

* ''Manshourat'' (2011) * ''El Masala'' (2012) * ''Mamnoua (2014) * ''Resala Ela Magles El Amn'' ("A Letter To The UN Security Council") (2017) *: In 2017, Ramy released his album on Universal Music MENA. The album is a mix of re-recorded older tracks and new compositions. The lyrical topics range from depictions of daily hardships of normal people, the struggle for social justice and women's rights, environmental issues and criticism of the regime.


Singles

* ''Segn Bel Alwan'' (2016) *: (featuring Lebanese rapper Malikah) was released in 2016. The song highlighting women's situation and the issue of gender equality in his home country, became a big hit and one of the most streamed videos in Egypt in the weeks after its release. * ''The Camp'' (2017) *: Ramy collaborated with UK artist PJ Harvey, released in June 2017 to benefit displaced children in the Lebanese
Bekaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most importan ...
fleeing the Syrian Civil War. * ''Balaha'' (2018) *: On February 26, 2018, Ramy released a song and music video called ''Balaha'' which mocked Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. ''Balaha'' led to eight arrests back in Egypt; two remain in detention as of April 2020, and a third, music video director Shady Habash, died in prison in 2020, allegedly from "health issues not yet specified", at the age of twenty-four after living over two years in pre-trial detention. The video has received over five million YouTube views. * ''Muqawma (Resistance) '' (2021) *: A song based on a poem by Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma from the revolutionaries of Egypt to the revolutionaries of Palestine.


Awards, nominations and honors

* #3 on the list "100 Songs That Changed History", Timeout Magazine * "Freedom To Create" prize winner, 2011 * Music Rights Champion, 2016,
International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization. Its p ...
* Spirit of Folk Award, 2017, Folk Alliance Festival, US * GrupYorum Award, 2020, “Tenco 2020 Award” - Sanremo - Italy


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Essam, Ramy 1987 births Living people Egyptian musicians People from Mansoura, Egypt Egyptian revolution of 2011