Ahmed Aly Becomes The First Egyptian To Receive The UK’s Exceptional Talent Visa

While the entire country descends into a craze every time an Egyptian athlete bags a sporting achievement, a notably smaller fraction of the population reacts to outstanding artistic accomplishments, though they are not few. One of the latest artists to gain an unprecedented accolade would be singer/songwriter Ahmed Aly.

You might remember Aly from his 2015 acoustic rock album Miles More To Go which received wide support both locally and overseas. The song Leaving off the aforementioned LP was the most streamed song on Spotify UK on the week of it’s release. But that was hardly the start of Ahmed’s international recognition: in 2013 he competed in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) in Nashville, Tennessee and reached the semi-finals. He finished in the same position in 2015 and 2016 and is currently awaiting the semi-final results for the 2017 edition. This past September, Ahmed was endorsed by Arts Council England and became the first Egyptian to receive a Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa. When we asked Ahmed what he plans to do with his visa, he replied “I’m going to collaborate on a song with a British singer, produced by Yak Bondy. I also finished a song called Be The Light that’s going to compete in the UK songwriting competition.”

This prestigious endorsement comes after Ahmed has proved his passion and dedication for a career in music time and time again. Composing over 30 original songs and collaborating with international producers like Yak Bondy, most notably behind The Spice Girls, he has also played across the globe from Dubai to Paris to Nashville. In addition to these achievements, Aly's songs have been added to movie scores. Aly made it clear to us that he hardly took any time off to celebrate, not wasting a second since his endorsement came along, and has no intention of resting until he fulfills his dream. 

Follow Ahmed Aly on Facebook and check out his Soundcloud for more music.