Calliope Presents: Ramy Essam

In 2011 Ramy exploded into international fame as the real voice of the Egyptian revolution. His songs spread like wildfire among the demonstrators, and during the height of the uprising Ramy performed in front of millions of people in the Tahrir Square. His song Irhal, in which then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was urged to resign, gained great popularity among the demonstrators. It became internationally known through YouTube, and is referred to as the anthem of the revolution. In 2011, it was selected by Time Out as the third-most world-changing song of all time.

Fame came at a heavy price with torture, arrests and censorship to silence Ramy. His songs were banned and he was unable to perform public shows. Still, he came out even stronger and more determined to speak out against the oppression. Since late 2014, Ramy has been living in Sweden and Finland, which gave him again the chance to create and perform freely and he started to use the opportunity to spread his message around the world as an ambassador of the Egyptian revolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=5EzU-0D4SeY&feature=emb_...