Angham
| Angham | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Angham Mohamed Ali Suleiman January 19, 1972 Alexandria, Egypt |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1987-present |
| Spouse(s) |
Magdy Aref (m. 1999–2000) Fahd Al-Shalabi (m. 2004–08) |
| Children | 2 |
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Musical career | |
| Genres |
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| Instruments |
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| Labels | Rotana |
Angham Mohamed Ali Suleiman (Arabic: أنغام محمد علي سليمان) (born January 19, 1972) is an Egyptian singer, record producer and actress. Her debut was in 1987 under the guidance of her father, Mohammad Suleiman. She is the most successful vocal female artist in Egypt starting from the 1980s till nowadays. Following her divorce from Magdy Aref in 2000, Angham took much more control over her image and musical style after that Leih Sebtaha (Why Did You Leave Her) record established her into a strong position amid the constant emerge of new voices in the Middle East music scene. After a highly publicized feud between Alam El Phan Music Records' president Mohsen Gaber and the artist , Angham moved to another record company, Rotana. In 2005, she released "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" (I Love You, I Miss You) record . The record was critically acclaimed, but commercially was not as expected. After a three years, Angham return to the forefront of Arabic pop music in 2007 with her album Kolma N'arrab (Whenever We Come Closer) which sold more than half a million CDs across the Middle East in less than three months and was awarded a platinum certification.
Angham was named the best selling female pop artist in Middle East for the year 2003. She is well known for her vocal range, simplicity, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register. However, some critics have said Angham's efforts to showcase her vocal talents have been at the expense of communicating true emotion through song rather than showing her full vocal capacities.
Life and music career
Childhood and youth
Angham was born in Alexandria, Egypt at Eshabty hospital. She is the eldest child of Mohammad Suleiman, a former violinist, music composer, orchestra chief, and singer, while her mother, Mageda Abdel Haleem, is a well-known artist. She grew up in a very religious Islamic family. Angham's family moved to Cairo by the late 1990s, and settled down at elMohandiseen Street, an avenue reputated for having many celebrities as residents. Angham has three siblings. Her brother, Khaled, is studying music arrangements. Her sister, Ghenwa, is currently attending university in elHadeetha Academy in elMaady. Angham was strongly against her sister's decision to enter the music industry, and prevented her doing so because she considered that she had no singing talent. Because of his physical handicap, Angham kept her third sibling, Ahmad, away from the spotlight and his identity and whereabouts remain till this day, anonymous.
Despite her busy schedule at the studio with her father, Angham had little personal contact with him, and felt closer to her mother who worked hard in keeping the family together, especially since she considered her father a ruthless man and hard to deal with. Spending much of her time at home alone, Angham turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of sixteen, and her uncle, Emad Abdel Haleem, began teaching her how to present herself to an audience. Angham performed for the first time in public during Cairo's Radio syndicate ceremony because they were looking for new voices to artistically adopt them. She sang "elGennah Taht Akdamek" (Paradise Is Under Your Feet) as a dedication to the mothers who were present during the concert. Despite winning the contest, Angham recalls how her father was not pleased with her performance and that his negative attitude was the major force that propelled her in a battle between her talents and her inner self to come up with better songs. On "Maa Hobby" (With Love) talk show in 2005, host Joumana Bou Eid asked Angham how she felt toward her dad after eight years of collaboration in making records. Angham replied "that she owe him many things and that she is lucky he is her father and an important figure in the music industry at the same time". The publicity of Angham's separation from her father whether on a personal or artistic level stabilized Angham's independent entrance into the industry of music.
Angham only attended high school. Upon its completion, Angham moved to Cairo's Conservatory of Music. She studied the basics of the music, improved her voice's capacities, and learned how to play on the traditional piano and Oud. However, Angham fell into a nervous breakdown when she received news about her uncle's death which happened on the same day of her first tour in Tunisia at the Carthage International Festival. Months before "Bet'heb Meen" (Who Do You love) record's release in 1999, Angham married Magdy Aref, an Egyptian businessman and music video director, from whom she gave birth to a boy named Omar. Angham's father was strongly against his daughter's choice of husband, but the artist married Magdy without her father's approval. In 2000, their divorce caused a riot in the press who criticized Angham lack of experience in managing to keep her records unaffected by her private life. They added that she was too young for a step like it. Angham remained a single mom for four years before she finally met music arrangist Fahd and become romantically involved during the making of her 2003 record "Omry Maak". On April 2004, they were married in a huge ceremony on the "The Place" yacht in 2004. Their love relationship was built over many years and they were spotted together on many occasions. In 2003, the press rumored that Angham married him secretly. Likewise, her publicly viewed marriage ended this rumour. Among the invitees present at the wedding were artists Elissa, Sherine, Mohamed Hamaki, Khaled Agag, Sheriff Makkawy, and Ehab Toufic. Rotana Records company's president, Salem elHindy, and his spokesperson, Tony Semaan, attended the wedding. Angham's father and son, Omar, chose not to attend Angham's wedding. On December 2005, Angham gave birth to Abdel Rahman. However, the marriage did not last long and Angham divorced Fahd on June 2008. She is currently living in a grandiose villa in alShourouk, a remote banlieu in Egypt, with her two children.
1987–1994: Debut with her father
Released in the year 1987, "Fil Rokn elBaeed elHady" (In The Far Distant Corner) is Angham's first breakaway record. Her father introduced her to Sayed Naser, a businessman and record producer, who agreed on producing and financing her records and tracks. Angham was the first artist to join Sayed Naser Records company, and the youngest to be accepted. Because of her father's wide recognition in the music industry, legend artist Mohammed Abdel Wahab gave Angham the copyright of his track "Basbosa" (Cute Girl) to remake it in her new debut record. Angham was the first artist from the 1980s to be given a song from a legend artist. This record in question will be featuring the debut of a series of records that are entirely and in some, partially, musically composed by Mohammad Suleiman. Angham's lyricist, Ezzat elGendy, who was behind the success of "Sidi Wisalak" (Your Charm) in 2001 also saw his debut with Angham in the "La Ya elHob" (No Love) track. "Fil Rokn elBaeed elHady" witnessed an important success for Angham which pushed her further toward a promising singing career.
In the following year, Angham conceived "Awal Gawab" (The First Answer), her second record, as a homage to Egyptian soul music composer, Sayed Makkawy, and she worked with a variety of lyricists on the record. Sayed Makkawy gave her the copyrights of his song "Aalo Enseeh" (They Said Forget Him) to add it to the record. "Awal Gawab" record was released soon after her debut record but was neither critically nor commercially as successful. Both tracks "Awal Gawab" and "Hawa elMasayef" (Summer Love) have been Angham's most successful ones in this record. The artist had been lobbying to produce her own songs, and share her own opinion in front of a strong minded father. "There was no me in this album. There was nothing in this record that I could relate to." Angham confessed that she wanted to produce her own records, but feared over her father's anger. During 1988, although she occasionally performed live, stage fright prevented Angham from embarking on any major tours. Her first widely seen concert appearances were mainly at the Cairo Opera House, and she said she felt that her performance proved her vocal abilities were not, as some had previously speculated, simulated using studio techniques.
Four next records which were all produced by Sayed Naser Records except the last one which is produced by "Sawt elCahira" (Voice of Egypt) Records saw the light. They were a transitional phase of Angham in her adolescent years. Most of the tracks dealt with love, breakup, friendship, family and fun. These albums were titled as "LaLiLi Lali", "Layek", "Ettafakna" and "Bibassata Kida". The first two were released in the year 1989, the third in 1990 and the fourth in 1991. In 1992, she sang two songs composed by the Saudi composer, Mohammed Al-Senan, which are "Shayfak" (I See you) and "Ain El-Hawa" (The Eye of Love). The lyrics of both songs were written by Ezzat elGendy. They were produced by Alkhoyool in 1992, and they were reproduced by production label Rotana in 2002 among the famous collection musical record "Mahrajan Nagham Watarab 2002" (Festival of Melodies and Oriental 2002). However, Angham's relationship with her father started to deteriorate when the latter discovered his daughter's intention of separating from him, and the fact that she have grown greedy and rebel have caused him stress over the publics reprisal of his daughter's as a person and artist. Among the four records, it was the last one that had a phenomenal success. The latter featured the hit "Ya Tayeb" (Humble Person), which tackled the subject of humanity and stabilized Angham's position as a celebrity, becoming a name as successful as Amr Diab. In 1992, the feud between Angham and her father was at stake. On the same year, Angham worked less with her father to conceive her seventh record, "Inta elAlam" (You Are The World) which was produced by "Sawt elCahira" (Voice of Egypt) Records. She collaborated with Waleed Khand in the desperate goal to prove she can have successful songs without her father. However, the record failed. In 1991, in an effort to maintain her popularity, she worked again with her father who exclusively composed all her songs.
The 1993 record "Ella Ana" (Except Me), produced by Rocky Records, was the best record for Angham between 1987 and 1994. This fact was attributed to the critical and commercial success of tracks "Telephonak Kam" (What's Your Phone Number), "Shantet Safar" (Luggage of Travel) and "Ella Ana". "Shantet Safar", alongside "Ya Tayeb", continues nowadays to be the sole old hit of Angham to survive as intensively as her 2001 hit "Sidi Wisalak" (Your Charm). After the 1993 record's release, Angham officially separated from her father after many unsolved misunderstanding. The separation was highly publicized in the press, and the Arabic society who is patriarchal by excellence, raised anger toward Angham for ungratefully denying her father's favor.
1995–2000: Search for expansion
After her separation from her father, Angham collaborated with music composer, Ameer Abdel Mageed. He worked subsequently on "Baollak Eih" (Tell You What) record in 1995 and musically composed all its tracks. The record was produced by Laser Records owned by Mustafa Dagher. In this record, Ameer Abdel Mageed recommended Angham to pick up songs that demonstrate her full vocal capacities alongside emotions. The track "Tekdar Aal Meshwar" (Are You Up To The Long Journey) was sung in 7.6 octave voice with a rich oriental music background. "Law Hasseit" which was filmed as a music video is the first track to contain quick Latin/Spanish beats, and perhaps helped Angham gain more popular in the young demographic. The sound engineering was taken care by Ameen Akef, Hussein Aahdy, and Omro Hashem, while the record was co-produced by Angham and Adel Othman Helal. The record received good review, and was perhaps the first record to be successful without her father's help.
In 1996, under Laser Records' production, Angham's tenth record "Akdar" (I Can Make It Through) saw the light. It is entirely composed by Ameer Abdel Mageed. The record is released in a second copy featuring the unreleased track "elAmar" (The Moon). Angham, in this record, stepped up in the light to show that she can make it through hard times and that she is in the phase of discovering who she is as an artist, far from her father's guidance. She said she is slowly finding her liberty and style, but is not there yet. International composer, Abdo Dagher, also worked with Ameer Abdel Mageed in the construction of the tracks' melodies.
Angham's management advised the artist to extend her popularity in other regions of the Middle East which was not familiar with her records yet. Angham started to experiment in the Lebanese dialect, but she found out that she did not master it yet. However, she rehearsed for the Gulf dialect and later on, presented her demo track to her friends. The latters were fully convinced with Angham's performance in the Gulf language, a major step and encouragement that enabled Angham to do a Gulf record. In fact, in 1996, "Shay Daa" (Something Got Lost) was her first Gulf record which was produced by Founoun elJazeera (Islands Arts) Records. It was an instant hit in the Gulf regions, and the first to open more career occasions for Angham. She was no longer doing concerts in Egypt only, but in Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, and UAE, and many more. She is the first non-Gulf artist to have a record that is as successful as the local artists. However, since the day Angham separated from her father, the press constantly came up with rumors about their relationship, concluding they even got separated on the personal level. Angham returned to the spotlight with a very successful record "Betheb Meen" (Who Do You Love) in 1997 where she worked once again with her father, but on only two songs. Upon its release, Angham silenced all rumors about her relationship with father, indicating that even though they got separated on the professional level, the link father-daughter remained till day intact. Aside her father, she worked with both music composers Ziad elTaweel and Ameer Abdel Majeed. Because of its success, the first copy of the record was sold quickly and Rotana Records Production released a second version in the market.
Because of her first Gulf record's success, Angham embraced a second experience at the same level. "Khalli Bokra L'Bokra" (Keep Tomorrow For the Future) record released in 1998 and produced by Stars Records company was even more successful than the first one. The record contained hits like "Haybet Malek" (Pride of a King), "Ma Had Fady" (No One Cares), "Eedna Mbarak" (Happy Anniversary) and "Ghareeb" (Strange). In this record, the music of the tracks were mainly composed by Tarek Mohammad, Khaled elSheikh, and Talal Medah. "Ghareeb" track is only available in its complete version on the CD. The record "Wahadaniya" (Lonely Woman) released in 1999 marks the transition between the old version of Angham under her father's guidance and the new one who is more liberative, young-looking and upbeat. It was produced by Sawt elCahira Records, which took back Angham under its wings after knowing her popularity grew more intense. All the tracks in this records were hits, but the most successful ones were "Bet'hebbaha Walla" (Do You Love Her Or What), "Baatly Nazra" (Send Me A Glance) and "elAlak Had" (Find Someone). For the first time before they got married in 2004, Angham worked with Fahd who co-arranged "Wahadaniya" (Lonely Woman) track alongside Mika. The song did not receive enough acclamation because it was sung in a slang and old Egyptian accent. Angham received "Best Female Artist" in 2000 for this record. Her music video "Bethebbaha Walla", featuring Angham in an old and new look which indicated a transition period, received "Best Music Video" in 1999. Egyptian artist, Fatma Serhab, worked in her early career with Angham as her background chorus in "Wahadaniya" record, before she left to conceive her own records.
2001–2003: New image, independence and liberalism
Angham and Magdy Aref separated in 2000. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality she had felt trapped by her relationship with Magdy, whom she often described as controlling. Soon after the separation, Angham hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. She became a phenomenal artist during this period, contributing to the inspiration of many artists who are still in the debut of their singing career.
Angham's next album, Leih Sebtaha (Why Did You Left Her) which was produced by Alam El Phan Records company and released in 2001, yielded the number-one single "Sidi Wisalak" (Your Charm), the lyrics and music video for which presented a more overtly feminine and sensual image of her than had been previously seen. She stated that Leih Sebtaha defined the point that she attained full creative control over her music, which continued to move in a steady direction with material mostly written and composed by Bahaa elDeen Mohammad and Sheriff tagg respectively. However, she added: "I never thought it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past. It's not like I went crazy and thought I was going to be the artist I am now. Personally, this album is about doing whatever I dreamt to do". Reviews confirmed that Leih Sebtaha is by far the most successful record that Angham ever did. "Sidi Wisalak", co-written by Angham and her life-time friend, Ezzat elGendy, is easily the most successful, personal, and confessional-sounding track she's ever done. The record was a commercial success, and both "Sidi Wisalak" and "Magabsh Serty" (Did He Mention Me) tracks boosted the sales and gave her the title of the best selling living Egyptian female artist. "Magabsh Serty" is the last song that Riyad elHamshari composed for Angham. Also in the same year, she appeared on "3 Sharee elNoujoum" (3 Stars Avenue) televised show, though her alleged prima donna behavior had already led many to consider her a diva. She was honored officially as "Egypt's Number 1 Female Artist" in 2001. By the following year, she had entered a relationship with music arranger, Fahd.
"Omry Maak" (My Life With You), Angham's sixteenth studio album, was released in 2003 and produced by the same records company as its precedent. It comprised more R&B, Rock 'n' Roll and ballad songs, many of them arranged by Fahd. "Omry Maak" and "Arrefha Beya" (Introduce Me To Her) tracks reached number one in the Middle East, in a time where the industry witnessed the release of unsuccessful records from fellow Arabic artists. Media reception of "Omry Maak" was in majority enthusiastic, with the Riyad Newspaper saying the album is like "a state of euphoric love between the lost of human senses and the phenomena of passion in its ultimate summit". "Omry Maak" will become Angham's third best selling record in her career. However, Angham accused Alam El Phan of under promoting the record: "The current situation that I am living in my professional career is not positive. I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people. I wanted to be free from Alam El Phan", she replied upon the news of her separation from Alam El Phan. Angham added that the owner of her company refused to let her film "Arrefha Beya" as her second music video. There were lots of promises that he did not accomplish. In 2004, Angham released "Khaleeny Maak" (Keep Me With You) single on Valentine's Day. It was broadcast on the radio and later on released on the Internet. The track features Fahd's first singing attempt alongside the artist.
2004–2006: Personal and professional struggles
Angham's popularity declined with the release of "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" (I Love You, I Miss You) record in July 2005. After "Bet'heb Meen" (Who Do You Love), Angham returns to another collaboration with Rotana Records company to produce and promote the 2005 record. She officially joined the record label on March 2004. Angham's new marriage to Fahd topped with her constant exhaustion, a second pregnancy and an operation for a kidney stone prior to birth made it impossible for the artist to focus on the record. The lead track "Bahibbik Wahashteeny "gained good reviews, and its music video, directed by Hady elBajoury, was filmed in September 2005. In the music video, Angham showed her real pregnancy in the clip while her ex-husband appeared on the clip too briefly at the end. However, due to late production and release of the music video, the audience were unaware of the record's release in the market. Angham tried to boost the sales of the record by filming "Bahib Nafsi" (I Love Myself) track as her second music video, but it brought a moderate boost to the overall sales. Despite the moderate success, "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" remains the most personal record to Angham. Angham began a long series of tours to help promote the record. Two days after the release of the record, she performed a successful concert in Tunisia at the Carthage International Concert alongside artist Ramy Ayash. The public exceeded 7500 in number She participated at Star Academy in its fourth season, "Maa Hobby" (With Love) talk show, "Khaleek BelBeit" (Stay Home) talk show , and "Saat Samee" (An Hour of Hearing) at Noujoum FM radio. Angham performed at Hala Febrayer (Welcome February) concert at Kuwait, alongside artist Saber elRibai, Khaled Slim and Hamoud elNaser. Angham won "Sawt elHob" (Voice Of Love) award in 2006 at the Alexandria National Music Festival in its fourth round. Despite the promotion, the record became the artist's commercially least successful record in her career.
2007–present: Return to stardom
Angham's eighteenth studio album, Kolma N'arrab (Whenever We Come Closer), was released in 2007 and contained contributions from music composers such as Khaled Ezz, Tamer Ali, Ramy Gamal, Baleegh Hamdy and Sheriff Tagg. After criticisms that Angham is over-using her ex-husband to rearrange the tracks in "Omry Maak" and "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" (I Love You, I Miss You) records, Angham collaborated with a variety of music arrangers. They include: Fahd, Tarek Madkour, Walid Fayad, Ashraf Mahrous, Tamim and Essam elSharayty. The record features a remake of "Ashky Lmeen" (Who Can I Complain To) as a tribute to Mohamed Mounir. Angham is the first female artist to include a remake in her record for a living artist. She said her 2007 record was "very much a mixture of everything that is joyful and sad in life." Kolma N'arrab became the best-selling record for a female artist in the Middle East in 2007. Almotamar (The Conference) reviewer concluded that Angham's the best-selling female artist during summer 2007, beating sales of Lebanese artists Nancy Ajram and Najwa Karam. The record earned Angham a platinum certification. Her music video, which cost half a million dollars and was directed by Ahmad elMahdy, peaked on rank one at Rotana Top 20 chart on 25 August 2007. "Dah Elly Indi Track" peaked at rank two at Radio Orient chart in France, while "Kolma N'arrab" track peaked on rank one on August 6, 2007, at "Eftekasat Top 10 Songs of the Week" chart. Angham won Best Egyptian Female Artist award in 2007 officially given to her by the Nile Entertainment channel.
Angham began a series of televised appearances to promote her record. She appeared on X-Factor at Rotana, "Nejm elNoujoum" (Star of the Stars) in Kuwait, Studio 2M in Morocco and "Maa Hobbi" (With Love) in Lebanon. She debuted her first tour with a successful performance in Cairo at the "Layali elTelevision" (Nights Of The Television) concert on July 14, 2007, which took part at the Chinese Garden, amid a young demographic which surpassed 3000 in number. The record Kolma N'arrab has been nominated for Best Selling Record at the World Music Award 2007 alongside Amr Diab and Nancy Ajram.
Angham continues her tour and her second concert promoting her latest record took place on 20 December 2007 in Ismaeiliya province in Egypt where 3500 people attended. Angham was guest on Taratata on Dubai Channel, alongside Khaled elSheikh, Hasna and Jad Nakhleh. On the third of February 2008, she appeared for the second time on Taratata to honour Egyptian artist, Mohammad Mounir, alongside artists Zein elOmar, Hussein and Houda Haddad. She took part with Syrian singer Asala in the first live airing of "elArrab" (The Mentor) show in its first cycle, hosted by Nichan Deirharotonian. The artist recorded an episode for "Inta Meen" (Who Are You) show hosted by Nadine Fallah on Abou Dhabi Channel. Angham was invited to the "10th Hour" show on Dream channel on the second January 2008. According to Elaph E-newspaper, Angham will continue her tour and her third concert around the Middle East is due to take place at the Doha's 9th Music Festival, where she will be closing the event alongside Gulf legend artist Mohammad Abdo on 29 January 2008. The concert was a phenomenal success and tabloids acclaimed Angham for her appearance. International press coverage was present during Angham's concert, including Reuters, who was interested in taking valuable pictures of the meeting between the artist and Mohammad Abdo. Angham's fourth tour in Kuweit was canceled due to unknown reasons.
Angham's second single from the 2005 record "Mabataallemsh" (Never Learning) was filmed as a music video under the directing of Ahmed elMahdy. The music video peaked number 1 in Rotana for three consecutive weeks, and positionned itself in rank number 2 in the Lebanese Nadine magazine
The fellow artist returned to Star Academy 5, with three ravishing new look, and performed with contestant Shahinaz her two hits "Kolma Ne'arrab" and "Atmannalo elKheir". She performed "Dah Elly Indi" (That's All I Got In Store) as a solo in an Elie Saab black French dress. Stars Cafe E-magazine wrote in its editorial column that Angham's appearance in Star Academy was the best among all the artists that have performed on this stage. Angham appeared on the Lebanese talk show Wakef Ya Zaman (Stop The Time) on Future TV channel. She discussed the memories of her debut in the singing career, her private life, and how she refused talking with her father because she believed the media should stay away from their feud. This was the last appearance she did before she slid back to working on her next record, featured to be released this summer.
On the 8th of May, She has appeared for he 4th time on the highest rated show in the Arab world, Star Academy, in its 6th season, which she sang along with basma her hit kol Ma nearab, and a cover of Mohamd Mounir's hit Ashke Lmen with basma, tania.
Angham announced in 2009 in El-Maestro TV show that she loved both of her ex-husbands, but the divorce was when love went out, and she is falling in love again but didn't mention who would be her lover.
= Nefsy Ahebak – 2009
For two years and still, Angham had been working on her nineteenth studio record. The musical album contains contributions from lyricists Amir Teaima, Bahaa elDin Mohammed, and Mohammad Atef, composers Khaled Ezz, Mohammed Nadi, Tarek Madkour, Walid Saad, Ammar elShareei, and Mohammed Yahiya, arrangists Nader Hamdi, Issam Shrayti, Hassan elShafiei as a substitute of Fahd, and Khaled Ezz. The list of the collaborators are not exhaustive. Upon an interview in "Kelmet elFassel" (Last Word), Angham revealed that she will be singing for the first time a Lebanese song written by Catherine Moawwad and composed by Salim Assaf. According to Filfan.com , the tracks' names are featured as the following:
- Yah, Law Ayeesh Maak (I Wish I can Live With You)
- Habibi Malak (Darling, what is up)
- Nefsi Ahebak (I wish I love you)
- Saat Keteer (Many times)
- Delwa'ty Ahsan (Now, I am better)
- Mahzouma (Defeated)
- Fi Wahda Bethebak (Some girl loves you)
- Esht Sneen (For Years I've Lived)
- Law Nsarah Baad (If We Were Honest to Each Others)
- Day Einak (The sparkle of your eye)
- Mosh Fi Balak (Not In Your Mind)
- Helwa (Beautiful)
The album was released on 25 June 2009. In this album, Angham recorded "Mahzouma" (Defeated) in Prague with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague under the direction of Issam Shrayti, for a cost of $50,000 USA, becoming the first Female artist to have the most expensive song in the Middle East. As for the music video, Angham's choice of the directors is restricted down to either Lebanese director, Nadine Labaki, or Egyptian movie director, Khaled Merghi, who collaborated with her previously in 1999 with "Bethebbaha Walla" (Do You Love Her Or What) music video.
The album was well received by critics and fans. Angham shot the video clip "Saat Keteer" under the direction of Randa Alam. This was the last album in the contract between Angham and Rotana as the former refused to renew the contract.
Acting career
Angham began to take professional acting lessons in 2000. She made her debut as an actress in the romantic comedy Leila Men Alf Leila (Night of a Thousand Nights) starring prominent actor, Yehia elFakharany, actor/artist Ali elHajjar, Sleem Sahab band, and the Cairo Opera House ballet. It was produced by the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. Angham's first acting project was very huge, but did not continue for more than two months, nor was aired on television yet.
Angham's second acting experience was with Ali elHajjar again in a theatrical drama called Rossassa fil Alb (Bullet Right In The Heart). The plot was written by Toufic Hakeem and was originally intended for theatre before it was transformed in the 1940s into a movie which starred legend actor/artist Mohammed Abdel Wahab and actress Rakiya Ibrahim. Angham loved both experiences, but said to Middle East Newspaper: "I benefited from these two experiences a lot, but standing on the stage is a very tiring job, which forces the artist to leave lots of other things including his personal and professional life as a singer to be able to fully focus on it. This was the sole point that I did not like in the acting experience." Rossassa fil Alb is Angham's most successful acting experience, and many movie offers came later for her. However, she did not accept them because she wanted to focus on her singing career. Among the offers Angham refused were Sahar elLayali (Sleeples Nights) which was nominated for Best Foreign Movie at the Academy Awards in 2003 where the singer was supposed to act instead of actress Mona Zaki, Shiqet Maser elJadida (Egypt's New Apartment), Aan elAshk Wel Hawa (About Love and Passion), elShoumouaa elSawdaa (Black Candles) where she was supposedly to remake the acting part of legend actress/artist Najat elSagheera, and Hayat Thekra (Life of Thekra) where Angham was supposedly remake the life of assassinated Tunisian singer, Thekra.
Artistry
Voice
Angham has said that from childhood she was influenced by Arabic classics and soul musicians such as Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Fairuz and Umm Kulthum. Her music contains strong influences of gospel urban contemporary music, Arabic classics, R&B, waltz and lately reggaeton. Angham is said to be able to cover all the notes from alto vocal range to six-octave vocal range. In her early years, she attempted to emulate Fairuz's simple notes, to ensure an efficient way of communication emotions. In Maa Hobby (With Love) talk show, Angham said that "singing in a low voice is far much more difficult than screaming in high pitch notes. There are not so many artists today that are capable of doing so." Angham's vocal trademark is her ability to sing in the whistle register and to transfer true emotions through her songs.
Themes and musical style
Before 2001, Angham's musical style was in majority based on Arabic classics and rarely on modern music styles. However, with the apparition of a new style in Leih Sebtaha record in 2001, Angham opted for a more western vision of her music, choosing more international beats and incorporate them in the music arrangements. However, the essence of her songs always possesses a hint of Middle Eastern flavor. Love is the subject of the majority of Angham's lyrics, although she has also written about themes such as spirituality, humanity, philosophy, and life. Most of her work is partly autobiographical, and reflects experiences that she have gone through.
Discography
Studio albums
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Singles
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External links
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