Ramy Essam

Ramy Essam is an Egyptian self-learned playing the guitar, Born in 1987 to a family in Al-Mansoura - one of Egypt's smaller cities, where he went to school and studied Engineering. He started to write songs at the age of 17, inspired by young poets like Amgad Qahwagi and Mohamed Bahgat, as well as the poet Ahmed Fouad Negm who spoke up against Mubarak's regime. He established the band "Mashakel" (translated to "Problems") in 2009 and through this band started to sing for a free life, illustrating the simple daily problems he lives along with all Egyptians under Mubarak's regime. During the January 25 Revolution,Ramy hailing from Mansoura came to Cairo on January 30 to participate in the revolution. He camped on Tahrir Square, and has become a regular Cairene since. He composed the crowd's anti-Mubarak chants with his song Irhal [ Leave] which became an anthem of the protests. On the 11th of February 2011 Mubarak finally got the message to 'Irhal' and was forced to resign. But when Ramy Essam returned to the square after this historic announcement, he was identified as an agitator, arrested and detained for four hours, during which time he was beaten and Tasered. On March 9th the army stormed the square, ripping down tents and arresting more than 100 people, including Essam.men in army uniforms dragged him to the Egyptian National Museum, which had become a security headquarters. But That Didn't Stop Ramy from Pressing on and Fighting for what He Believes.