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The Clouds’ Rendez-Vous: The Joint Legacy of Umm Kolthoum and Abdelwahab

October 2, 2020

The year was 1964 when, at last, the Star of the East – already past the peak of her vocal ability – finally caved into the pleas that came to her from all sides. An institution of her own, it took pressure from none other than the President of the Republic himself, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to convince Umm Kolthoum to let her longtime arch-rival in the world of music, Mohamed Abdelwahab, compose a song for her. Abdelwahab himself was not small fry. The Musician of Generations, a legend in his own right, was arguably one of the most innovative and creative musicians in modern Egyptian history. For decades he composed songs not only for himself, but for almost every icon of Egyptian and Arab music. Though he himself had a formidable ego to match Umm Kolthoum’s, he had long since welcomed the idea of writing music for the Lady of Arab Song. With high expectations comes the inevitable risk of disappointment. As Umm Kolthoum and her band prepared to walk onto the stage to perform Inta Omri – the first song Abdelwahab ever composed for her – Abdelwahab stood, on edge, behind…


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