Leih Sebtaha

Infobox Album
Name = Leih Sebtaha (Why Did You Leave Her)
Type = studio
Artist = Angham
Released = flagicon|Egypt 2001
Recorded = 1999–2001
Genre = Arabic pop, Arabic classic, techno, ballad
Label = Alam elPhan
Producer = Alam elPhan (Producer), Mohsen Gaber, Ali elMaleegi, Bassam Awwad, Hassan elZakem (Executive producers)| Last album = "Wahdaniya"
(1999)
This album = "Leih Sebtaha"
(2001)
Next album = "Omry Maak"
(2003)

Leih Sebtaha (Why Did You Leave Her) is the fifteenth full-length Arabic studio album from Egyptian pop singer Angham, launched in Egypt in 2001 by Alam elPhan Production Company. The record comprises ballads primarily co-written by Angham Fact|date=July 2008and Bahaa elDeen Mohammad - with whom she had previously worked on "Betheb Meen" (Who Do You Love) (1997) - and a few urban and oriental dance tracks. Half of the entire tracks in this record was musically composed by Sheriff Tagg. Lead track "Sidi Wisalak" (Your Charm) became Angham's most successful single in her singing careerFact|date=July 2008, and also at the time of its release when it topped the Middle East singles chartsFact|date=July 2008, and "Magabash Serty" (Did He Mention Me) became her second to reach number one in Egypt and KuweitFact|date=July 2008. Angham was nominated for "Best Female Artist" Fact|date=July 2008for "Leih Sebtaha"Fact|date=July 2008 record at the 2001 Cairo Music AwardsFact|date=July 2008. It remains Angham's most successful record to date, alongside the following record "Omry Maak" (My Life With You), selling more than 2.2 million copies worldwideFact|date=July 2008. It was this record in particular that made Angham more popular across the Middle EastFact|date=July 2008.

Album information

"Leih Sebtaha" record was the result of two years of hard work and recordingFact|date=July 2008. Angham collaborated with the same composers and lyricists who worked on "Betheb Meen" record. However, she kept her same style of songs like in the previous years, improving the tracks' arrangements only. It was the fact that she collaborated with a new team of arrangists, mostly young ones, contributed in making the songs more modern and reachable to the publicFact|date=July 2008. Angham said that this record is not her favourite one, and later on, revealed that "Bahibbik Wahashteeny" (I Love You, I Miss You) record was the closest to her heart because it explained who she is as a human beingFact|date=July 2008. The recording and mixage of the tracks were done by a complex team composed of Ameen Akef, Nash'at, Sameh elMazni, and Mohammad Saker. The photographer is Mohammad Abdel Sammeea who presented Angham in a new and liberative womanFact|date=July 2008, and introduced her to the arts of CD coversFact|date=July 2008. Angham worked alongside executive producers Ali El Maleegi, Bassam Awwad, and Hassan elZakem to be able to buy a wider variety of songs, and later on pick the best for the recordFact|date=July 2008. Magabsh Serty is the last song that Angham worked on with music composer, Riyad elHamshari, who died in 2007. He previously worked with Angham in two successful Fact|date=July 2008tracks from "Wahadaniya" (Lonely Woman) record: "Baatly Nazra" (Send Me A Glance) and "Bethebbaha Walla" (Do You Love Her Or What).

Angham recalls how she was excited to record "Magabsh Serty" (Did He Mention Me) song, which was the first track to be recorded and inserted in the recordFact|date=July 2008. The quick-tempo urban track features gossips murmurs effect on the tape version, while it does not contain it on the CDFact|date=July 2008. On the other hand, "Leih Sebtaha" instrumental is only available on the CD versionFact|date=July 2008. It is the second song to have an instrumental after "Wahadaniya" (Lonely Woman) in 1999, and the last one because Angham found it a useless idea. Because of its popularity, "Sidi Wisalak" was remixed twice by DJ Mufti and DJ AliFact|date=July 2008, but however the two remixes were released as singles on the InternetFact|date=July 2008, after two years, due to copyrights restrictionFact|date=July 2008. The same song was featured in "Sahar elLayali" (Sleepless Nights) movie which was nominated as Best Foreign Film in Oscar Awards in 2003Fact|date=July 2008. "Ana Indak" (I'm At Your Place) features a telephone voice message in the interlude of the track. Angham said she got inspired by this idea when she tried to call someone on her cellphone during a pause between the recordings and got an answer machine back. She communicated the concept with arrangist, Tarek Madkour, who applied the effect instantly. "Tedhak Alaya" (You Laugh At Me) is the first Gulf song sung by a non-Gulf singer that stood for more than three months in Kuwait, Dubai and UAE charts.

Promotion

The main concert that Angham performed in was at Layali Dubai (Nights of Dubai) international concerts in 2001. She also sang at Layali el Television (Nights of Television) where she met the audience for the first time after the record's stability in the chartsFact|date=July 2008. An emotional Angham stood speechless when the crowd sang "Sidi Wisalak" instead of her, a phenomenon that surprised Angham who was not usedFact|date=July 2008, in her previous records, for an acclamation like thisFact|date=July 2008. The firm positionFact|date=July 2008 of "Leih Sebtaha" on top of the charts caused conflicts between AnghamFact|date=July 2008 and few Egyptian singersFact|date=July 2008 who were driven by jealousy over the record's phenomenal succesFact|date=July 2008s. The press tackled shortly a violent feud between Angham and Sherine WagdyFact|date=July 2008, and later on between Angham and Amal MaherFact|date=July 2008. Both fellow artists presented their excuse to Angham and both issues terminated peacefullyFact|date=July 2008.

Music video

Angham only filmed "Sidi Wisalak" (Your Charm) as a music video, despite failed plans to film "Magabsh Serty" and "Rahet Layali". The music video was released two weeksp prior to the record's official release in the music markets. It was directed by Ahmad elMahdy, who constructed efficiently a new identity for Angham, in which she will use it for the many years that follows. The successfulFact|date=July 2008 collaboration between elMahdy and Angham encouraged the team to work on future music videos such as "Omry Maak" (My Life With You) in 2003 and "Kolma N'arrab" (Closer) in 2007. In the music video, Angham appeared in a very short hair and a new wardrobe, blending in a scenario that features a romantic and mystic encounter with a man she fell in love with at the metro, and desperately seeks to meet him again by stealing one of his shirt's button that fell down during a trip in the train. However, the press unjustly desipected the music video "as too provoking"Fact|date=July 2008, but later on excused Angham and classified it as "non harmful"Fact|date=July 2008, when they finally compared it upon the emerge of new sexual-themed and provocative music videos in the early 2003 along with the apparition of Lebanese performer, Haifa Wehbe. "Sidi Wisalak" music video won "Best Music Video"Fact|date=July 2008 in 2001 at the Cairo Music AwardsFact|date=July 2008. The award was officially handed to Angham by Egyptian minister of information, Safwat al-SharifFact|date=July 2008.

Track listing

# Sidi Wisalak "(Your Charm)" (Lyrics by: Ezzat elGendy | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Tarek Akef)
# Leih Sebtaha "(Why Did You Leave Her)" (Lyrics by: Baha' elDeen Mohammad | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Tarek Madkour)
# Rahet Layali "(Nights Have Gone)" (Lyrics by: Mohammad elRifai | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Yahya elMougi)
# Magabsh Serty "(Did He Mention Me)" (Lyrics by: Ayman Bahgat Amar | Music composed by: Riyad elHamshari | Music arrangements by: Tarek Akef)
# Leih Sebtaha (instrumental) "(Why Did You Leave Her)" Lyrics by: Baha' elDeen Mohammad | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Tarek Madkour)
# Tedhak Alaya "(You Laugh At Me)" (Lyrics by: Saoud elSharabtli | Music composed by: elFaissal | Music arrangements by: Mahmoud Sadek)
# Noujoum elLeil "(Stars Of the Night)" (Lyrics by: Wael Helal | Music composed by: Ameer Abdel Majeed | Music arrangements by: Ashraf Mahrous)
# Habbeitak Leih "(Why Did I Even Love You)" (Lyrics by: Nader Abdallah | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Ashraf Mahrous)
# Hayran "(Confused)" (Lyrics by: Naser Rashwan | Music composed by: Ameer Abdel Majeed | Music arrangements by: Hisham Niyaz)
# Ana Indak "(I'm At Your Place)" (Lyrics by: Bahaa elDeen Mohammad | Music composed by: Sheriff Tagg | Music arrangements by: Tarek Madkour)