<p>Born in a small town from the rural area of Minya in Egypt, Hakim has always been bathed in Sha&auml;bi music. At the age of 14, he created a band which would play in parties for the community while interpreting songs from traditional Sha&acirc;bi. Despite his love for music, Hakim bowed down before his father&rsquo;s wishes and went to study at the University of Cairo. He graduated in 1993 in communication studies. He then got back to music and created a new band, mixing Eastern and western instruments. The band became the most famous of the area and was influenced by sounds from the fair new Jeel music. Against his father&rsquo;s advice, Hakim decided to go to Cairo in order to play music for a living. His career started thanks to the encounter with Hamid El Shaeri. The latter produced Hakim&rsquo;s first album in 1991 : &laquo; Nazra &raquo;. Thousand of copies were sold out in a month. After that he went on and produced eight albums and a live record &laquo; The Lion Roars : Live in Brooklin &raquo;, which enhanced his international notoriety.</p>