Hany Shenouda: The man behind the records that rewrote the rules

🎶🇪🇬 Al Massrieen, Amr Diab, Mohamed Mounir, and a country’s worth of film scores — the common denominator across six decades of Egyptian music was Hany Shenouda, the visionary composer, arranger, and producer whose influence would come to define modern Egyptian music.

Shenouda died earlier this week in Cairo at the age of 83, ending a career that spanned over six decades. Egyptian TV presenter Mahmoud Saad announced his death, and the Musicians’ Syndicate paid tribute to him as one of the country’s foremost musical figures. Widely regarded as the architect of modern Egyptian music, he left behind a catalogue that reshaped Arabic pop, transformed Egyptian film scoring, and launched the careers of some of the region’s biggest stars.

Born in Tanta in 1943, Shenouda graduated from the Faculty of Music in 1966 before continuing his studies at the Higher Institute of Music. In 1977, he founded Al Massrieen, a six-piece band that challenged convention by fusing Egyptian musical traditions with disco, funk, psych rock, and contemporary Western arrangements. The result was Bahebak La — an album packed with socially grounded storytelling, infectious grooves, and songs like El Shawarae Hawadeet, as well as the title track that helped redefine what Arabic popular music could sound like.

His instinct for spotting talent proved just as influential. Shenouda composed four songs and arranged the entirety of Mohamed Mounir’s debut album Allamouny Eneiki, before returning to compose eight tracks and oversee the arrangements for his sophomore release, Bentewled. He also discovered a young Amr Diab after watching him perform with Al Massrieen in Port Said, encouraging him to move to Cairo to study music before composing four songs, arranging his debut song Ya Tareeq, and introducing him to lyricists including Salah Jahin.

The composing record stretches far beyond pop. Shenouda wrote timeless songs for Nagat El Saghira, including Bahlam Ma’ak and Ana Ba’shaq El Bahr, alongside beloved works for Faiza Ahmed such as Hoda El Leil. His film scores became just as iconic as the productions themselves, with soundtracks for Al Mashbooh, Al Hareef, Ghareeb Fi Beity, and Shams El Zanaty. Shenouda also composed the iconic score, Longa 79, for ‘80s Egyptian sports show “El Camera Fil Mal3ab” — a tune later used for the intro of Ramy. He continued creating until the very end, with his final project being a reimagining of Bahlam Ma’ak in a cross-generational collaboration with rapper Ziad Zaza and singer Tina.

His contributions earned him Egypt’s State Appreciation Award in the Arts in 2023 — an honor he described as one of the defining moments of his career — while Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority later celebrated his impact on Arab music with a tribute concert, which included Amr Diab and Mohamed Mounir on the bill. If there’s one place to revisit Shenouda’s genius, though, it’s Bahebak La: the album where the sound of modern Egyptian pop arguably began.

WHERE TO LISTEN- Bahebak La, alongside Al Masserieen’s bigger catalogue and Hany Shenouda’s other works, can all be found on Apple Music, Anghami, Spotify, and YouTube.