Mohamed Mounir (Arabic: محمد منير; born October 10, 1954) is an Egyptiansinger and actor, with a musical career spanning more than four decades. He incorporates various genres into his music, including classical Egyptian music, Nubian music, blues, jazz and reggae.[1][2][3][4] His lyrics are noted both for their philosophical content and for their passionate social and political commentary.[1][5] He is affectionately known by his fans as "El King" in reference to his album and play "El Malek Howwa El Malek" (The King is The King).[6] Mounir's family is from Nubia, Southern Aswan, Egypt.
Born into a Nubian family in Aswan,[1] Mounir spent most of his early childhood in the village of Manshyat Al Nubia,[6] where he shared his father's interests in both music and politics.[1] As a teenager, he and his family were forced to relocate to Cairo when his village was lost in the floods that followed the construction of the Aswan Dam.[8] It was here that he studied photography at the Faculty of Applied Arts at Helwan University.[1] During this period, he would often sing for friends and family at social gatherings. His singing voice was noticed by the lyricist Abdel-Rehim Mansour, who would go on to introduce Mounir to the renowned folk singer Ahmed Mounib.[1][6]
Musical career
Following his college graduation, he was called up for military service in 1974,[1] during which he continued his professional musical career by performing in various concerts.[6] He performed his first such concert in 1975.[9] Although the public were initially critical of Mounir for performing in casual attire at a time where many Egyptian singers were expected to wear suits, they eventually warmed to his laidback image.[1]
After completing his military service, Mounir released his 1977 debut solo album Alemony Eneeki on the Sonar record label. Mounir went on to release five more consecutive official albums and featured on one soundtrack album under the Sonar label.[6] To date, Mounir has released a total 22 official albums and featured on six soundtrack albums under a number of different record labels.[6]
Mounir's single "Maddad" from this album caused controversy, as its lyrics could be interpreted as a call for intercession from the prophet Muhammad. Among Muslims, there are differing views as to whether the prophet can provide intercession between Allah and his believers. This resulted in the music video being banned from Egyptian television for a time.[10] Mounir responded by saying "It is this fight against rigid thought that makes something out of you".[10]
On his 2003 follow-up album "Ahmar Shafayef" (Red Lipstick), he returned to his more familiar style of mainly secular lyrics. In the summer of 2003, following the release of this album, Mounir toured Austria, Germany and Switzerland alongside the Austrian pop musician Hubert von Goisern, and later that year the two musicians performed at a concert in Asyut.[11]
In May 2004, he held a large concert at the pyramids of Giza, during which he was physically attacked by a drunken fan.[12] Despite sustaining minor injuries, he continued his performance until the end of the concert.[12]
He continued recording albums infused with social commentary with the release of his 2005 album Embareh Kan Omry Eshren (Yesterday I Was Twenty) and his album Ta'm El Beyout (Taste of Homes), released in 2008. Ta'm El Beyout was noted for its creativity, but initially did not perform as well as expected in terms of album sales.[13] In 2012, Mounir released his album Ya Ahl El Arab we Tarab.
In 2008, Mounir postponed his New Year's Eve concert at Cairo Opera House in solidarity with the Palestinians suffering the effects of the Gaza War.[14][15] He issued the statement: "Delaying the concert is a message sent to the whole world, so that it would move forward and help the people in Gaza."[15]
In February 2021, Mounir announced that he would be playing at concerts in Jerusalem, Haifa, Ramallah and Gaza City, to be the first Egyptian musician to perform in Israel, as he mentioned: "I will be a peace delegate, like Sadat". However, he later declared that he would only tour the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Gaza.[17]
Acting career
As well as his career as a popular singer, Mounir also has an active acting career. He has appeared in 12 movies, 4 television series and 3 plays.[6] His movie career began in 1982, when he acted in Youssef Chahine's film 'Hadouta Masreia (An Egyptian Story), also being featured on the soundtrack album. In 1997 he played the role of the bard in another movie by Youssef Chahine, the French-Egyptian historical drama Al Maseer (Destiny), which was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[18]
Mounir played the part of the blind poetry professor "Bashir" in the controversial 2005 film Dunia, which centers around the title character Dunia, a belly dancer and poet played by Egyptian actress Hanan Tork.[19] When the film was shown at the 2005 Cairo International Film Festival, it left the audience split between those supporting the film's calls for women's rights and its message against female genital mutilation, and those disapproving of either the title character's desire to express herself through dance, or of the scenes shot in Cairo's slums, judged as tarnishing Egypt's international image.[20][21]
He received the Peace Award from CNN for his album Earth Peace
Received the Diamond Award from "Bama Awards"
He won the Best Singer award in the July 2008 MEMA competition.
He was honored by the management of the Alexandria Film Festival at the opening of its 30th session
He won the Platinum Award for the best Egyptian and Arab singer for the song "Yasmina", in which the international singer Adel Al-Taweel participated with the "Ich und Ich" team, the most famous international band at present, and he deserved the Universal International Award, after he distributed the disc that includes the song "Taht Al-Yasmina” 700,000 copies, achieving the highest distribution rate in Germany. Mounir also won, in the same year and for the same song, in Arabic and English, third place in the public referendum organized by the “Proseven” channel for the competition for the best song in Germany.
The song "El-leila Samra" won a BBC poll of the 50 best African songs of the twentieth century.
He also won the Honorable Award in 2005 for the movie "Dunya".
^"Al-Akbar Article". Archived from the original on August 9, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Retrieved June 20, 2010.
^ ab"Egypt Today Online, September 2004". Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Retrieved June 22, 2010.
