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Hamza Namiraحمزة نمرة
Namira performing at a concert in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Hamza Namira
Born	1980 (age 43–44) Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
Origin	Egypt
Genres	Egyptian music pop Revolution music
Occupations	Singer composer Songwriter music producer Music arranger Actor
Instruments	Vocals guitar Oud
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Awakening Namira Productions
Website	hamzanamira.net

Hamza Namira (Arabic: حمزة نمرة) is an Egyptian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has released three albums from the production of Awakening Records: Dream With Me, Insan, Esmaani; and a couple of albums from Namira production, his own foundation: Hateer Min Tany and Mawlood Sanat 80. Besides singing, for which he is mostly known, he has also worked in musical composition and arrangement. Hamza composed some of his own work, like the album heads Esmaani and Insan, along with some collaborations with other artists, like Maher Zain's song Ya Nabi Salam Alayka. He also contributed to arranging the cartoony remake Egyptian Jingle Bells (also known as Oh la la song), which was the first shaabi work in his repertoire, later followed by Esta3izo in his fourth studio album.

Hamza's work is mostly marked by a recurring sociopolitical theme, diverting from love songs and focusing on topics of general humanist interest, like hope, alienation, generational change, and oppression. He's also interested in reviving cultural heritage. Having been dubbed "Voice of the Revolution", works of Hamza rose to prominence during the 25 January revolution, in which he personally participated, and was considered a symbolic figure thereof. Dari Ya Alby, from his third album, topped the SoundCloud chart for almost a month.

Career

Beginnings

Namira started to develop an interest in music when he was 17 years old, when he set about learning the guitar, keyboard, and ‘oud. He also vested interests in several musical styles: Middle Eastern, Egyptian traditional and folk music, light rock, jazz, and Latin music. From 1999 until 2004, Namira played in a band headed by the Alexandrian artist Nabil Bakly. Although a relatively unknown musician, Namira later said that Bakly was his main musical influence. He then went on to form his own group. Namira composed his first songs and managed to get a few like-minded friends together to establish the band "Nomaira". In the meantime, he studied commerce at the Alexandria University and graduated in 2003.

In light of Namira's debut album, which had a main fan base of college students, one commentator described him as the "new Sayed Darwish", a cover of whose song, Shedd El Hizam, was released in the album.

Breakthrough success

Namira's second album, Insan was released in July 2011. This coincided with the Arab spring, which he declared was a main factor in his popularity. According to him, he wants to express the real issues of his generation that mainstream works don't cover due to concerns of musical market needs and pressure from production companies.

When British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Egypt on 21 February 2011 (only ten days after President Hosni Mubarak left office), Namira was one of a select group of people invited to meet with him and to participate in a one-hour discussion about the future of Egypt.

Namira's fixation on sociopolitical issues continued along the timeline of the Egyptian part of the Arab Spring. In January 2014, he released a single, Wa Ollak Eh, in which he emphasized on rejecting violence, hatred, and the general polarized environment following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état and Rabia massacre.

Remix series

In 2016, Namira launched his own weekly TV series Remix (Arabic: ريمكس) on the pan-Arab TV channel Al Araby. As of 24 December 2020, 3 seasons of the show were released, with a total number of 34 episodes. Along the series, Namira blended different music genres with local lyrics, including flamenco, electro, celtic, and others. Arabic lyrics were adopted from the Maghreb, the levant, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, while non-Arab included Amazigh, Kurdish, and Armenian.

With a running time of around 20–30 minutes, each episode would examine the historical origin and evolution of a work of folklore or pop culture in an Arab region, or sometimes in even other neighboring regions, like Armenia and Kurdistan. In exploration of the musical piece, Namira would interview original artists (if still alive), their family members, local enthusiasts, or cultural officials. For example, he met with Hamdi Benani for an Algerian cover, and with the grandparent of Sayed Darwish for a remake of his Yā Wild ʿammy (Arabic: يا ولد عمي, lit. 'O, cousin'). At the end of each episode, Hamza would publicly perform a remix of the work, usually outside its place of origin or popularity. A number of songs were performed in London, which is both the headquarter of Al Araby and Hamza's place of residence. Works of Remix were mostly collaborative, featuring Lowkey, Babylone, Isam Bachiri, Hamid Al Shaeri, among others.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Remix

Extended plays

Singles

Videography

Political views

Hamza has openly opposed the occupation of Palestine and the official position in Egypt towards the Arab–Israeli conflict. He was also a vocal proponent of the Arab spring, naming El Midan after Tahrir Square, due to its role in the Egyptian revolution, and dedicating his Hila Hila Ya Matar for the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. Namira also dedicated his Hekayet Tefl for the children of Syrian refugees.

In November 2014, Namira's songs were banned from Egyptian state radio for "criticising the authorities". In response to questions about the ban and his legal status in Egypt, Hamza declared that he only expresses his opinions as per rights included in the Egyptian constitution, and that he doesn't identify as an activist, nor a politician.

In an interview with Youm7, Namira emphasized that he doesn't affiliate with the Muslim Brotherhood organization. He expressed his support for the Egyptian Military in the Sinai insurgency and expressed condolences for Ahmed Mansi, an Egyptian colonel killed during a terrorist attack.

He finally returned to settle and resume concerts in Egypt in September 2022 after spending years in exile.

Philanthropy

Namira joined a two-day UK tour organized by Human Appeal International to fundraise for medical equipment and provide training for more than 10,000 medical practitioners in Egypt. He performed in Vienna, Austria in October 2014 in an event organized by Humanic Relief.

In 2019, Namira released Hekayet Tefl in collaboration with United Muslim Relief as part of a fundraiser to support children of refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Jordan. The campaign raised around £E90,000.

References

1. ^ عايش , محمد (18 January 2014). "مصري تربَّى في السعودية أصبح أشهر فناني الثورة [An Egyptian raised in KSA became the most popular artist of the Egyptian revolution]". Alarabiya.net. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
2. Abdelrazek, Alaa (21 December 2020). "تصدر موقع يوتيوب بمصر.. حمزة نمرة صوت الثورة يعود بـ"مولود سنة 80"" [Topping Youtube Egypt .. Hamza Namira, Voice of the Revolution, Returns with "Born in the Year 80"]. Al Jazeera.
3. @HamzaNamira (6 March 2022). "Though I was born in Diriyah (not Abha, as Misplaced Pages says with lots of the usual inaccuracies), I lived for a long while and went to school in Riyadh. This was the house I lived at" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
4. أيمن , كرمة . ""فلكزيون" مع حمزة نمرة: برضه مكملين [Follkzion with Hamza Namira: we are still going on]". Masr al-Arabiya. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
5. "Egyptian singer Hamza Namira to make London debut". Arab News. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
6. ^ Foley, Sean (10 April 2012). "The Artist of the Revolution: Hamza Namira, the Arab Spring, and the Dream of a Free Egypt". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
7. ^ Guan, Frank (27 February 2018). "For Weeks, the Top Artist on SoundCloud Was an Icon of the Arab Spring". Vulture. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
8. @HamzaNamira (16 March 2019). "أنا خريج تجارة إنجليزي جامعة اسكندرية دفعة ٢٠٠٣ واشتغلت فترة في إدارة المشروعات.. كانت أيام صعبة" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.
9. "Hamza Namira's "Dream With Me" restores Sayed Darwish". Al-Mustaqbal. 4 July 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
10. Abou Arab, Bassem (1 August 2011). "Hamza Namira: Insan". Cairo360. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
11. ^ "Exclusive interview with Hamza Namira: 'I'm not a politician or activist'". The New Arab. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
12. "البرادعي يغني على تويتر "امتى نفوق؟" ويرفض "الحرث بالبحر" [ElBaradei Sings "When shall we wake up?" on Twitter and Rejects Pounding Sand]. CNN Arabic (in Arabic). 23 January 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
13. ^ Lavent, Tine (10 November 2016). "Hamza Namira is Back". Egyptian Streets.
14. "يا ولد عمي". Remix. Season 3. Episode 4. 21 February 2002. Al Araby.
15. "Hamza Namira". Apple Music. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
16. "Hamza Namira". Deezer. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
17. "Discography". Hamza Namira. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
18. ريميكس مع حمزة نمرة - تلفزيون العربي | الحلقات الكاملة [Remix with Hamza Namira - Al Araby TV | Full Episodes] (Television production) (in Arabic). Al Araby.
19. ريمكس مع حمزة نمرة | الموسم الثاني | الحلقات كاملة [Remix with Hamza Namira | Season 2 | Full Episodes] (Television production) (in Arabic). Al Araby.
20. ريمكس مع حمزة نمرة | الموسم 3 | الحلقات كاملة [Remix with Hamza Namira | Season 3 | Full Episodes] (Television production) (in Arabic). Al Araby.
21. ^ "حمزة نمرة يهدي اللاجئين السوريين أحلام "حكاية طفل"" [Hamza Namira Dedicates the Dreams of "A Kid's Story" to Syrian Refugees]. Arab48. 22 February 2019.
22. "Egypt radio bans popular singer Hamza Namira for 'critical' songs". BBC News. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
23. "حمزة نمرة يحرق قلوب الإخوان.. الجماعة تهاجم المطرب بعد حواره مع تليفزيون اليوم السابع" [Hamza Namira Burns Muslim Brotherhood's Ears ... The Society Attacks the Singer after his Interview with Youm7 TV]. youm7 (in Arabic). 23 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
24. Kijamii. "Hamza Namira Is Back In The Music Scene And Holds A Concert This Weekend | NileFM | EGYPT'S#1 FOR HIT MUSIC". nilefm.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
25. Elkamel, Sara (27 January 2013). "Hamza Namira performs in UK fundraiser for medical equipment for Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
26. "Art Alert: Egyptian musician Hamza Namira to perform in two UK concerts". Ahram Online. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
27. "Opferfest-Veranstaltung". Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
28. "Change the Life of a Refugee Child Today". Facebook Ads. 7 February 2019.

External links

• Hamza Namira on Facebook
• Hamza Namira on Twitter

• 1980 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Egyptian male singers
• Egyptian male actors
• Musicians from Alexandria
• Awakening Music artists
• Alexandria University alumni
• Singers who perform in Egyptian Arabic
• Arabic-language singers of Egypt