Khartoum prepared to receive the artist Mohamed Mounir, nicknamed “Al-King”, with great and exceptional welcome. The preparations for the reception were manifested in various aspects, most notably decorating its streets with banners bearing the titles of the songs of the great Nubian singer, such as “The name is Kamel Insan” and “I am my heart is a popular residence.” While the forums and the media were filled with writings highlighting the special bonds that bind Munir to Sudan, and his special relationship with Sudanese political and cultural symbols such as the late leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, and the “first African singer” the late singer Muhammad Wardi, it also highlighted the historical relationship that unites Munir with the Nubian heritage in the Nile Valley. In its north and south, as a Nubian origin.
The journalist and writer, former spokesman for the Sudanese Cabinet, Fayez Al-Sulaik, said, “Muhammad Mounir, the Nubian king, or the king as his lovers like, added a distinctive tone to the Egyptian song, and gave it an aesthetic dimension until it reached the world; Where he flew with two wings in the skies of rapture; One of them is the roots of the Nubian heritage, and the second is the uniqueness of Sudanese singing. “Mounir’s attachment to Sudan is spiritual and sentimental,” he added.
Al-Salik said that Mounir expressed this himself during his concert in Khartoum in 2010, where he began to greet the audience, and said that he learned a lot from Ahmed Al-Mustafa, Muhammad Wardi, Sayed Khalifa, Abdul Karim Al-Kabili, and Hamad Al-Rih, and that this is “the juice of my childhood,” then The ceremony began with the song “Wasat al-Da’ira”, which he said was one of “the masterpieces of the great giant of Sudan, Muhammad Wardi, my father, my uncle, my uncle and my love.”
Al-Salik said that Mounir often referred to the origin of some songs in his concerts as being Sudanese, and added that the artist, Mohamed Wardi, said in an interview conducted by the Egyptian journalist Sabah Musa, that he agreed to sing Mohamed Mounir for his song “Wasat Al-Circle,” as Mounir sang to Sayed Khalifa, “How are you?” And “Aindia”, and Ahmed Al-Mustafa’s “The Closer Yearns”, and to my little Lord “I am my heart is a popular dwelling”, in addition to the songs of the Nubian heritage in the Nubian language.
Al-Salik said that Mounir, a student of the Sudanese singing school, was able through it to form a qualitative addition, and succeeded in making a great breakthrough by infiltrating an ear that was only sung by a seven-step scale with its ornaments, Arabs, and oriental maqamat, and it only danced to the rhythm of a ten-baladi, but he climbed the song on a five-step scale. However, he excelled in presenting Sudanese and Nubian songs to Arab and international listeners.
He added, “After that, we heard Muhammad Fouad, singing (The Quiet Night), by Sharhabeel Ahmed, and we listened to Sudanese singing in concerts in a number of Cairo’s neighborhoods and cafes, in Maadi Gardens, Abdeen, Helwan, Imbaba, and Bulaq. Blood and geography.
Writer Mohamed Youssef Wardi said on his Facebook page: “The Egyptians have enjoyed the pentatonic scale as a whole, after Mounir pulled it, while dozens of Sudanese artists who have been traveling to Radio (Sudan Corner) for decades have been unable to settle their music in Egypt.” .
Wardi continued: “And at some point in the future, when they chronicle Sudanese music in Egypt, they will discover the extent of the contribution of Munir and his companions from the people of Lower Nubia in strengthening the soft power of Sudan in the lands of the Mahrousa, and with the logic of history and truth they will find it defined by the phrase before and after Munir.”
He added, “I attended Mounir’s meeting with Her Excellency’s television program presented by the Egyptian artist Esaad Younis about two years ago,” in which he clearly stressed that because of his fear of the extinction of the Nubian language, he is keen to be part of his songs, and indicated that he visited Los Angeles University. She is interested in endangered languages, such as the Nubian language and the languages of the Amerindians, pointing out, “Unfortunately, with the new generations, we have lost privacy, and I am considered the youngest and last generation to speak Nubian, and this is sad. Do two differ in that Mounir’s music reduces the gaps between the Nubian generations? If the answer is yes, then this is enough for him, and we will not ask him for more than that.
The Egyptian journalist, Ahmed Al-Muslimani, said that the great artist, Mohamed Mounir, is popular in Egypt, Sudan, the Arab world, Europe, and large regions of the world.
Al-Maslamani added, in his “First Edition” program, on Al-Hayat channel, “Munir will perform at a concert from Sudan, and this is a natural thing, but the great hospitality of the Sudanese people with the visit of Muhammad Munir and the wonderful reception to announce his concert in Sudan confirms his status in the Nile Valley, and other countries. numerous around the world.
And he continued, “When Muhammad Munir’s concert in Sudan was announced, the following text was written: Nearly five decades on the throne of singing and music, Muhammad Munir is an international artist who has won the respect of many peoples, not the Egyptian people.”
Al-Muslimani continued, “This text expresses the love and appreciation that the Sudanese people have for the King, and he is also a friend of major personalities in Sudan, politicians, intellectuals, writers, artists, scholars, and others, but the most prominent of them is the Prime Minister and leader of the Umma Party, Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi, who passed away from Our world two years ago, when he visited him at his home in Cairo, after he underwent surgery.
It is noteworthy that Mounir had deep relations with the late leader of the Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi. He expressed his deep sorrow at the death of Sadiq al-Mahdi, and wrote an obituary for him on his Twitter page.
Mounir also had a close relationship with the Sudanese people, which was clearly evident in his statements about her during his visits or meetings with the Sudanese.
From “Al King”
One of the anecdotes of Muhammad Mounir’s stories is that Cameroonian workers uploaded his image after they painted it on a shirt on an African football occasion that has nothing to do with it, which is the match between Egypt and Sudan at Ahmed Ahidjo Stadium in Cameroon, in January 2022 in the African Cup of Nations, referring to them as “Mounir.” A beloved African symbol, according to identical press sources.
