Angham
Angham Mohamed Ali Suleiman, known by the mononym Angham, is an Egyptian singer, recording artist, and actress. Her debut was in 1987 under the guidance of her father, Mohammad Suleiman. Following her divorce from Magdy Aref in 2000, Angham took much more control over her image and musical style after that Leih Sebtaha 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 with Alam El Phan Music Records' president Mohsen Gaber, she moved to another record company, Rotana.
In 2005, She released the album Bahibbik Wahashteeny. It was critically acclaimed, but commercially was not as expected. After three years, Angham returned to the forefront of Arabic pop music in 2007 with her album Kolma N'arrab which sold more than 500,000 CDs across the Middle East in less than three months and was awarded a platinum certification.
Early life
Angham was born in Alexandria, Egypt, the eldest child of Mohamed Suleiman, a former violinist, music composer, orchestra chief in the Egyptian opera house, and singer, while her mother, Mageda Abdel Haleem, an artist. She grew up in a Muslim family.The family moved to Cairo by the late 1990s, and settled down at El Mohandiseen, an area known for being home to many celebrities. Angham has three siblings. Her brother, Khaled, studied music arrangements. While her brother Ahmad, owing to his physical handicap, remained away from the spotlight.
Music career
Angham began singing at around the age of sixteen, under the guidance of her uncle, Emad Abdel Haleem. Angham performed for the first time in public during Cairo's Radio syndicate ceremony. She sang "el Gannah Taht Akdamek", a song dedicated to mothers. She recalled how her father was not pleased with her performance.Upon finishing high school, Angham joined 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.
1987–1994: Debut with her father
Released in 1987, Fil Rokn elBaeed elHady 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. Due to her father's wide recognition in the music industry, famed composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab gave Angham the copyright of his track "Basbosa".
This record features a series of records that are mostly musically composed by Mohammad Suleiman. Angham's lyricist, Ezzat el Gendy, who was behind the success of "Sidi Wisalak" in 2001, also saw his debut with Angham on the "La Yal Hob" track. "Fil Rokn elBaeed el Hady" was a pivotal success.
The following year, Angham conceived Awal Gawab, 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" to add it to the record.
The Awal Gawab record was released soon after her debut record but was neither critically nor commercially as successful. "Awal Gawab" and "Hawa elMasayef" were her most successful tracks on this record. 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" 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" and "Ain El-Hawa". 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. However, Angham's relationship with her father started to deteriorate when he discovered her intention of separating from him. He felt stress over the public's 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", which tackled the subject of humanity and stabilized Angham's position as a celebrity. In 1992, the feud between Angham and her father resulted in her working less with her father to conceive her seventh record, "Intal Alam" which was produced by "Sawt elCahira" Records.
The 1993 record Ella Ana, 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 such tracks as
"Telephonak Kam", "Shantet Safar" and "Ella Ana".
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" record in 1995 and musically composed all its tracks. The record was produced by Laser Records owned by Mustafa Dagher.The track "Tekdar Aal Meshwar" 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.
In 1996, under Laser Records' production, Angham's tenth record Akdar saw the light. It was entirely composed by Ameer Abdel Mageed. The record was released in a second copy featuring the unreleased track "el Amar". Angham stepped up to show that she can make it without father's guidance. International composer, Abdo Dagher, also worked with Ameer Abdel Mageed in the construction of the tracks' melodies.
Angham started to experiment recording in the Lebanese dialect, but could not master it. However, she rehearsed for the Gulf dialect and released "Shay Daa" in 1996, which was her first Gulf record, produced by Founoun el Jazeera Records. It was an instant hit in the Persian Gulf region, and led to her performing in Qatar, Kuwait, and UAE, and other places.
Angham returned to the spotlight with a very successful record Betheb Meen in 1997 with Rotana, 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 had separated on the professional level, the link of father and daughter remained intact.
Due to her first Gulf record's success, Angham embraced a second experience at the same level. "Khalli Bokra L'Bokra" 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", "Ma Had Fady", "Eedna Mbarak", and "Ghareeb". 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, released in 1999, 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", "Baatly Nazra" and "elAlak Had".
For the first time before they wed in 2004, Angham worked with Fahd, who co-arranged "Wahadaniya" track alongside Mika. Though the song did not receive much acclaim, Angham received "Best Female Artist" in 2000 for it. Her music video "Bethebbaha Walla" received "Best Music Video" in 1999.
2001–2003: New image, independence and liberalism
Angham and Magdy Aref separated in 2000. She said she 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.Angham's next album, 'Leih Sebtaha' which was produced by Alam El Phan Records company and released in 2001, yielded the number-one single "Sidi Wisalak", the lyrics and music video for which presented a more overtly feminine and sensual image of her that 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".
"Sidi Wisalak", co-written by Angham and her lifetime friend, Ezzat elGendy, was a commercial success. Both "Sidi Wisalak" and "Magabsh Serty" 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.
That same year, she appeared on 3 Sharee elNoujoum, a televised programme. 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, Angham's sixteenth studio album, was released in 2003 and produced by the same record 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" tracks reached number one in the Middle East, in a time when 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 loss of human senses and the phenomena of passion in its ultimate summit".
Omry Maak was Angham's third best selling record in her career. She 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, adding that the owner of her company refused to let her film Arrefha Beya as her second music video. There were many promises that he did not accomplish. In 2004, Angham released "Khaleeny Maak" single on St 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.