Egyptian artist, Mohamed Ramadan is known to have gained success in both the Middle East and North Africa. One of the factors that has allowed him to achieve such success in both his music and acting career comes back down to not only his talent and likeable persona but the uncommon pride we see in MENA artists when it comes to embracing their true African roots and influence. All of this is clear when it comes to both his choice of music, and fashion and where he seeks further career growth.
From the information above, there are important points to consider. Firstly, Mohamed Ramadan proves to have stayed true to his African roots. Despite gaining a lot of recognition, he has never forgotten where he came from therefore, he is one of the most authentic Egyptian artists. Moreover, what makes it interesting is that he is one of MENA's artists. MENA means, "Middle East and North Africa". It means that he is not only famous in the Middle East but also North Africa. All of this information seems intriguing however who is Mohamed Ramadan as a person?
As stated by https://elcinema.com/en/person/1101790/biographies, "Mohamed Ramadan began acting while at school. He has received the award for greatest nationwide talent three times consecutively – an unprecedented achievement. He started his career with small roles in TV series like “The Cinderella,” until he had his big break in Yousry Nasrallah's “Ehky Ya Sharazad” (Tell me, Shahrazad). He then went on to star in blockbusters produced by the famous Egyptian producers Mohamed and Ahmed El Sobky, which made him one of the most valuable actors in the Middle East. Mohamed Ramadan is perhaps the only Egyptian actor to have been praised by the internationally renowned performer ‘Umar el-Shereef who stated that he had chosen Mohamed to perpetuate his acting legacy.". From this quotation, there are important points to consider. Firstly, he received the award for greatest nationwide talent times three times following one after the other without interruption. He could have settled to being an actor however he had other goals to accomplish as a famous musician. It has proven to be successful. For example, he has one million monthly listeners on the global platform Spotify. He is known to be the first Egyptian singer on Spotify who has ever had one million listeners every month. Despite obtaining so much success, he could have gone to the Middle East to increase his popularity as a musician. However, this is not the case in the sense that Mohamed Ramadan is the first artist to follow his success back to Africa and not the Middle East. By doing this, he is taking the African continent to greater heights.
Rather than looking for success in the West when it comes to recognition and artistic growth. Ramadan looks towards success in Africa first, this has already proven to be a success after winning AFIRMA’s “African Fans' Favourite” title in 2019. Mohamed Ramadan was nominated in this category amongst Africa’s most recognized artists, one being the Congolese star, Maître Gims.
AFIRMA happened to be a catalyst of remarkable musical success for the two artists. Allowing them to gift the region with the crème da la crème of African music, “Ya Habibi”. With over 32 Million views after only a month from its release date and stands at No.1 in more than 13 countries. Ramadan and Gims have shown proof of the true African music phenomenon.
The way it seems, the collaboration with Congolese star, Maître Gims has proven to be a huge success not only because of their success. It is more like two Africans coming together to take the African continent to the top, for the world to take notice of Africa having talented musicians. Ramadan probably collaborated with Gims because Gims is known as the 7th most-played artist worldwide on Deezer (Wikipedia). Two famous artists working together means massive success. They have shown Africa's true potential in music.
Despite the endless accomplishments, Ramadan still appears to have the desire to fulfil his long journey of true African purpose. Making sure his unique sound reaches every corner of the continent, as well as creating a significant presence in the region. Therefore he is one of the African artists advocating for Africa's recognition in every corner of the continent. He is the first Egyptian to follow his success back to Africa and not the Middle East hence he is the first unique Egyptian artist.