Listen to the Arousing Nubian Songs
Fascinating Nubian Songs, Music, Composers, Arageed Damce, Great Masters of the Nubian Song, Contemporary Nubian Artists, Rising Stars of the Nubian Song
Fascinating Nubian Songs, Music, Composers, Arageed Damce, Great Masters of the Nubian Song, Contemporary Nubian Artists, Rising Stars of the Nubian Song
Khidhir El Attar was born in Ibrim, in Old Nubia, in 1958. He enjoyed his early childhood playing at the Nile and between the palm trees, enjoying the beautiful nature and the singing and dancing of the village community between the beautifully decorated houses of his village. At his young age, Khidhir - which means "green" in Arabic - experienced the shock shared by his parents and neighbors when they were displaced to narrow houses at the edge of the desert, and lost their traditional way of life where everything they needed for their living was provided by the Nile and the surrounding nature. The construction of the Aswan High Dam had disrupted their life, and left a deep wound in Khidir's soul.
While he grew up in the new village, Khidhir continued sharing songs with his friends, and his strong and firm voice distinguished him from his friends. Thus he was chosen to represent the village school at regional forums. Encouraged by the artists present in his village and his friend Mohammed Omar, he started performing on the stage at weddings and regional festivities in 1975. After he published his first three albums between 1979 and 81, he became known in Nubian circles in Cairo and Alexandria, and Khidhir El Attar was often asked to perform at concerts. He decided to move to Cairo where his talent and creativity was recognized, and he sang his greatest songs "Dunya Ashry" on a poem his friend Mohammed Omar wrote for him, "Lemoni", "Ah Dunya", and finally "I am proud of my heritage" that projected him to fame and gave back some self-esteem to the forsaken and dispraised Nubians.
After his marriage in his village in 1990, in a seven-day ceremony according to Nubian traditions, he became known also outside Egypt and gave several concerts in Paris - France, some shared with other Nubian artists, and participated in the "New Millennium" celebrations with Jean-Michel Jarre at the foot of the Pyramids in Cairo in 2000. Khidhir El Attar also sang at several "Nubia Day" celebrations, at the Opera of Alexandria. His songs mainly focused on the Nubians' wish for return to their lands and Nubian unity - he sang in both branches of the Nubian language, Nobiin and Kenzi - but he also sang in Arabic and in a televised series called "Friends" where he presented five songs. His wife's death in 2013 deeply affected him, and he died after leaving the stage of a concert in 2014, the same day his wife had passed away. However, Khidhir El Attar lives on in the memory of all Nubians, and Nubian artists often pay tribute to him in their concerts and sing his songs.