Angham
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Angham Mohammad Ali Suleiman (Arabic:أنغام محمد على سليمان)(born January 19, 1972) in Egypt is an Egyptian singer. Popularly known as Angham. She is one of the few who contributed to the evolution of modern Egyptian music, and among the first to blend classical and modern musical arrangements in her songs.
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[edit] Beginnings
Angham (Arabic for melodies) comes from a musical family. Her father Mohammad Suleiman is a renowned Egyptian composer. Her uncle, Imad Abdel Haleem, a singer, was married to the famous belly-dancer, Nagua Fouad, but died at the age of thirty. Angham, affected by the death of her uncle, whom she loved very much, released later an expressive and angry song called "Leih Ya Donia Hazzi Ma'aki Kida?" ("Why is My Luck Like This?"). Angham has two siblings: her sister, Ghinwah, and her brother, Khaled, who is also a young musician. Her first contact with an audience was at the age of seventeen with her Mother's Day song "El Gannah Taht Akdamik" ("Paradise is Beneath your Feet").
Angham's success started with her first album Fil Rokn El Baeed elHadi (In the Far Distant Corner) in 1989. Its success inspired her to improve her musical abilities. She studied in the Conservatory of Music in Cario, and excelled in playing the Oud.
[edit] The 80's
Angham's following albums concentrated on classic melodies with poetic lyrics and an oriental flavour. She released many albums in Egyptian Arabic. Albums like Khally Bokra La Bokra (Keep Tomorrow for Tomorrow), Betheb Meen (Who Do You Love?) and Ella Ana (Except Me) gained much success in Egypt. Angham's fluency in speaking the Gulf dialect helped her to gain considerable fame in Arabic Gulf countries, and several prominent singers praised her voice, including: Shadia, Fayrouz, Najat and the Algerian singer Warda. At this time, Arabic music was affected by western influence, with pop superstars such as Amr Diab, Mohamed Mounir and Medhat Saleh. After a few successful albums with her father, Angham refused to work with him anymore, in the hope of modernising her style. Her father, surprised by this, disowned her and swore not to participate in any future artistic collaboration with her.
[edit] Wahdaniya
Her 1999 album Wahdaniya (Lonely Woman), presented a new transformation in her music. While keeping the poetic lyrics and oriental flavor, Angham chose more rapid music, minimizing the long tunes. As music videos had become popular, Angham shot her first video for the song "Ba'atly Nazra" ("Send Me a Glance") from this album. She appeared in a classic look, resembling that of Leila Mourad. After this video, she received an offer to play the role of Leila Mourad in a movie, but she refused it, knowing Leila Mourad's popularity and reputation in Egypt. After that, Angham shot another music video for her song "Bithebbaha Walla" ("Do You Love Her or What?") which marked a transformation in her looks to a more modern style.
[edit] Leih Sebtaha?
During the Wahdaniya album, Angham's marriage destabilized. After disappearing from the music scene for two years, Angham was finally divorced from her husband, Magdy Aref, who had been her manager and the director of some of her previous videos. Angham found herself obliged to take care of their child, Omar, and thus slowed down the rate at which she produced albums. However, in 2001, Angham released her most popular album, Leih Sebtaha? (Why Did You Leave Her?), which stayed at number one in the Egyptian charts for many months. The secret of its success was the song "Sidi Wisalak". The video for the song, directed by Ahmad elMahdy, showed her with a new look. In the video, Angham plays the role of a young singer who falls in love with a man who she often meets at the train station. At the end of the video, the man returns to Angham, afer discovering her love for him by listening to the radio. People were amazed by the transformation to Angham's looks after she hired a Lebanese stylist to take care of her appearance. She received two awards; "best video for 2001" and "best female singer for 2001" in Cairo's Annual Music ceremony. She also participated with Zekra in a duet about Intifada: "Nihlam Eih?" ("What Shall We Dream Of?").
[edit] Omry Maak
Omry Maak, produced by Alam Elphan, was released in August 2003. With this album, Angham turned to a new western flavour, similar to that of Amr Diab. With director, Ahmad elMahdy, Angham shot the "Omry Maak" video, in which she appeared with her son. Angham wanted to shoot "Arefha Biya" ("Introduce Me to Her") as a second video, but Alam Elphan refused, as shooting a second song was not in their contract with the singer. This resulted the separation of the singer from the company.
Before the release of Omry Maak, the press attacked Angham for secretly marrying her Kuwaiti arranger, Fahed. Angham responded by officially annoucing the marriage after she joined another music production company, Rotana, owned by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. Angham promoted the album by appearing on many talk shows, and programs such as Star Academy 1, El beit beitak, Moubashar with Mahmoud Sa'd and Star Search.
[edit] Bahibbik Wahashteeny
After joining Rotana, Angham worked secretly for two years to produce a romantic album called Bahibbik Wahashteeny (I Love You, I Missed You). Angham worked with singers and composers including the female poet Hind El Kady, who wrote two songs for her, "Albak" (Your Heart) and "Tetghayar" (Changing). Bahibbik Wahashteeny marks Angham's return to her roots. The album includes two seven minute tracks, "Albak" and "Inta Meen" (Who Are You). Angham announced that she was pregnant with her second child, and Egypt celebrated her reconciliation with her father, ending their ten year dispute. Angham promised that she would work with her father on her 2007 album.
Her last album was released on July 25, 2005, but due to fatigue after her two hour performance in the Carthage Film Festival in Tunis, she was forced to postpone the shooting of promotional videos. She agreed to work with director Nadine Labaki on the album's title song, but shooting was postponed due to Nadine's busy schedule. Angham finally summoned Egyptian director Hady Elbagoury to direct the video, which was shot in El-Gouna, in the far south of Egypt. Her husband, Fahed, joined her to act a part in the video. "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" surpassed the success of Angham's 2001 hit, "Sidi Wisalak". After making the video, Angham was hospitalized with a kidney stone.
