Hakim (singer)

Abdel Hakim Abdel Samad Kamel, known by the mononym Hakim, is an Egyptian shaabi singer.

Biography

Hakim was born in Maghagha, a small town in el-Minya, Egypt. He grew up with the sound of working- and middle-class tradition of Egyptian Sha'abi music, and admired the great Egyptian Sha'bi singer Ahmed Adaweyah. He reportedly began singing at the age of 8, and practiced mawawīl, the vocal improvisations which often begin an Egyptian Sha'bi song. He formed a band while in high school, obtained his college degree in Cairo, and then returned to el-Minya to continue making music, before moving back to Cairo. He had collaborated with several international singers throughout his career, such as: Narada Michael Walden and Olga Tañon in 2002, James Brown in 2004 and Don Omar in 2007.