Ihab Tawfik إيهاب توفيق, Ekmenny – (إكمنى)
Ihab Tawfik إيهاب توفيق · Ekmenny – (إكمنى) · Egypt · 1990 · Slam!
This tape brings us to Cairo, with the debut album of a singer who would go on to become one of Egypt's most enduring pop voices.
Who is Ihab Tawfik
Ihab Tawfik (also transliterated Ehab Tawfik, إيهاب توفيق) is an Egyptian singer and actor, born on 7 January 1966 in Cairo, and one of the leading names of the shababi genre of Egyptian pop music.
He started young: he learned the oud as a child, from a private tutor who was a friend of his father, and sang as a soloist in his school choir. His musical education continued at Egypt's Faculty of Music Education and then at the Institute of Arabic Music, where he graduated with distinction and stayed on as a teaching assistant. He later went on to earn a doctorate in music and Arabic singing, with a thesis on the Egyptian song of the second half of the twentieth century, so the “doctor” title fans sometimes give him is not a joke.
His recording career opened in 1989 with the single “Dany”, written and arranged by Hamid El Shaeri, on the various-artists compilation Lqaa Al-Nujoum. The song did well, and set the tone for what came next: a full-length debut built largely around El Shaeri's production.
The album: Ekmeny
Ekmeny (إكمني), released in 1990 on the Slam! label, is that debut. Most of the album's music was again composed and arranged by Hamid El Shaeri, already a central figure of the Egyptian al-jil sound, whose influence would shape Tawfik's warm, romantic vocal style for years. The track “Awel Marra”, with lyrics by Adel Omar, is often singled out as an early showcase of Tawfik's vocal range.
It was a modest but effective start. Tawfik would follow it with Maraseel the next year and Rasamtek in 1993, before the run of hits in the late 1990s and 2000s — “Sahrany”, “Habibi”, “Allah Aleik Ya Seedy” — that made him a fixture of Arabic radio and, eventually, a singer with well over a million albums sold.
The Tape
This copy is a Slam! cassette, catalogue number FS 1-90, produced in Egypt and distributed by Al-Sorour Company (شركة السرور), 11 Kamal El-Din Salah St., Garden City, Cairo. The cover carries the credits below, transcribed from the J-card; a couple of names were hard to read on the print and are marked accordingly.
Tracce
Lato A
- Ya Helw El-Malamih (يا حلو الملامح) — lyrics: Abdel Rahman Abu Sinna · music: Hamid El Shaeri
- Haza El-Qamar (هذي القمر) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri
- Masakeen (مساكين) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Ibrahim Fahmy, Hamid El Shaeri
- Ekmeny (إكمني) — lyrics: Mohamed El-Assas · music: Ahmed Mounib
Lato B
- Sayed El-Helween (سيد الحلوين) — lyrics: Abdel Rahman Abu Sinna · music: Hamid El Shaeri
- Awel Marra (أول مرة) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri
- Mahma Gani (مهما جاني) — lyrics: Magdy El-Naggar · music: Hagag Abdel Rahman
- Allemny (علّمي) — lyrics: Mostafa Zaki · music: Ahmed Mounib
- Da... (دا.......) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri