9 Egyptian Musicians That Are More Famous Abroad Than At Home

Egypt is filled to the brim with talented musicians, some find success within the homeland, some find it abroad. Many of the musicians that reach fame outside the country's borders are relatively unknown to most Egyptians. Most of them are considered masters of what they do by the international music industry, and yet are ignored - purposely or unwittingly - in their own country. We mention nine of Egypt's musicians who have found more success abroad than in their home country.

 

  

Halim El-Dabh is one of the world's first electronic music pioneers. El-Dabh composed the earliest known works of Electronic Music, and his piece The Expression Of Zaar was the first ever piece of Tape Music. Recorded in 1944, four years before Pierre Schaeffer's work - considered by many to be the first. El-Dabh then moved to the USA, where he continued to pioneer the field, studying, and then teaching at several universities, most notably the University of Kent, where he spent most of his teaching career. El-Dabh is famous around the world for his composition Leiyla and the Poet, which recieved huge support and widespread acclaim.

 

Egyptian Army officer, Salah Ragab is credited with forming the first Egyptian Jazz band. Along with Hartmut Geerken, and Edward "Edu" Vizvari, Ragab formed the Cairo Jazz Band, playing music at several international destinations. Most notably, Ragab is known for two concerts he played with the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1971 and 1983. Ragab died in 2008 and is remembered by Jazz institutions around the world as the creator of the genre Egyptian Jazz which - as the name implies - is Jazz infused with Egyptian sounds.

 Born in an artistic environment Sherif Nour, played music since his early childhood. Originally enrolled in Law School, he later switched to the Faculty of Musical Education where after graduating in 1982 he formed a band and played in hotels and concerts inside Egypt. In 1992 he joined Mohamed Mounir's band as lead keyboardist and a few years later won the Hains Zeidl contest in Germany for his body of work, the first of his many visits to the country. Finding widespread admiration around the world he continues to travel the globe playing major international festivals. Nour also found huge success in Hollywood scoring television serials. The artist received several international awards and is considered a master musician throughout the world.

 

  

Grammy Award winner Fathy Salama is well known inside of Egypt, it's just that we believe that he is more recognised abroad. Mostly appearing with his band Sharkiyat, together they toured the world appearing on the bill of some of the world's biggest festivals. Salama also scored two films, Fallen Angels Paradises and Signs of April, to which he won two awards. Salama's music is a fusion of traditional and modern music, mostly oriental. He strives to bridge the gap between the two styles maintaining a very delicate balance.

 

 Karim Nagi is an Egyptian DJ, Producer, Composer, Dancer, Music Teacher, And Dance Instructor among a few other professions. He produces his own music and includes Egyptian oriental dancing in his routines. Nagi teaches music and dance at many universities around the world, including Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, and many, many more. He has been leading the Sharq Arab Music Ensemble for many years, and toured the world playing at numerous festivals around the world. He created the technique Turbo Tabla and has sold numerous copies of his DVD tutorials.

Mohamed Ragab, AKA Machine Eat Man, is a frequent visitor of the U.S festival circuit. A Registered Moog artist, Ragab is recognised internationally for his music, still in his prime, Ragab still has a long way to go, and we believe that his productions, and live performance's are out of this world.

Kairo Is Koming, better known as the KIK Kollektive, have gained major success in Europe, and it's members have played all over the world. Their music has been released on several prominent labels abroad and continue to make waves to this day, playing different destinations, and releasing music on a regular basis.

 

 Mohamed Hegab, also known as Dubfunk, is an Egyptian DJ/Producer who has seen his music released on some of the worlds biggest electronic music labels. He's travelled the world playing music, touching down on nearly every continent from South America to the far east of Asia. His music is unique and edgy, and is recognised by some of the worlds biggest DJ's and Producers.