Television Tunes: Ramy

Warning: This article contains a few spoilers from Ramy Seasons 1 & 2

Well into the second season of Ramy, a series following an Egyptian-Muslim’s spiritual journey, we find Ramy’s sister Dena fall prey to the “evil eye.” The evil eye is a curse from an envious or malevolent stare and is a common superstition believed by many African and Asian countries. In this final scene, Dena stands alone on a sidewalk under the belief that she has been cursed by the evil eye and the screen turns black. The credits start rolling and the audience hears “Nouh Al Hamam,” a biting and evocative Arabic song about inherited misery by Egyptian singer/songwriter Maryam Saleh. 

The “needle-drop” endings aren’t uncommon in Ramy whatsoever. In fact, almost every episode ends with a piercing song, intentionally woven into the script to deliver the build-up desired by writer and director Ramy Youssef. While these endings tracks remain memorable to the ear, to me, the most remarkable aspect of Ramy’s soundtrack is the incorporation of a dizzying range of music, covering 70s-80s Arabic funk to today’s Indie hits. 

By mixing popular songs like “Egyptian Luvr” by Rejjie Snow in with songs like old Arabic hits like “Khosara” by legendary Abdel Halim Hafez,  the soundtrack does not shy away from any genre in particular. Artistically and cinematically this selection helps reflect the range of second-generation Arabic millennials like Youssef himself. 

As an audience, we see that when Youssef’s character Ramy feels more traditional and closer to his roots, the scene plays classical Egyptian music while when Ramy is more in touch with his American side we hear a track like “Come Over” by The Internet. This artistic element is one that we see repeatedly in the show as Youssef often lets the music speak on the behalf of the script. 

When coming across artists familiar like Umm Kulthum, I felt like I was listening to a cassette tape that my dad would put together for me. But I am not ashamed to say that I found myself even more excited to listen to songs I’ve never come across before. New age Arabic music featured in the show like “Scoo Scoo” by Cairo-based rapper Abo El Anwar is a prime example of the way that Arabic music embraces today’s generation just as much as older generations.  

The importance of Ramy’s soundtrack cannot be understated enough. By intentionally spotlighting Arabic gems the audience gets to directly peer into a world that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to. We hear soundtracks from TV shows every single day, but Ramy’s soundtrack has found a special place in my heart. With every new track, you can hear the genuine attention to detail placed into song selection for each scene. Dissecting real conversations like internal spiritual conflicts and cultural dual identities through musical selection is an unparalleled talent and the curators of this soundtrack encapsulate it perfectly. 

If you haven’t gotten around to watching Ramy, make sure you bump it up to the top of your watchlist! And lucky for you, I Shazamed all the standout tracks so that you don’t have to.

Without further ado here are ten songs from the Ramy soundtrack that you need to add to your playlist right now: 

• “Nouh Al Hamam” by Maryam Saleh
• “Ayonha” by Hamid Al Shaeri
• “Ya Habiby Taala Elhakny” by Ezzat Abou Ouf
• “Scoo Scoo” by Abo El Anwar
• “Enta Omry” by Umm Kulthum 
• “Enta habibi” by Psychoqueen
• “NEEDSUMBODY” by ABRA 
• “Sah” by Al Massireen
• “Ada” by Issam Hajali
• “Ole Bongo” by Sr Ortegon

Article by Sravya Gadepalli