Tender in voice and powerful in impact is Mohamed Mounir; when he enters the stage with his bright smile, hundreds of thousands line up – because Mounir is an Egyptian sensation. Calling for peace and justice, Mounir’s Nubian musical style and socially-conscious lyrics earned him the title ‘king’ for nearly four decades in Egypt. A legend, Mounir has been described as‘ ‘the best Arab singer of the 20th century.’ Although largely dominated by the Arab-trap scene in recent years, Egypt was not always a hub of rap and electronica. Mounir pioneered the introduction of Nubian artists and influence in Egypt’s music scene – becoming a nation-wide familiar voice to all. Born in 1954 to a Nubian family in Aswan, Mounir spent most of his childhood in Masnshyat al-Nubia, a village later flooded by the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1970. This forced his family to move to urban Cairo. A star is born Mounir had a heart for the arts; he studied at the Faculty of Applied Arts at Helwan University, and during this time, he began his journey as an aspiring pop singer. He was recognized for…
