E-hab’s interest in music started form a young age. He played the flute and keyboard since the age of 13. Soon he decided he wanted to make music as a career. However, E-hab’s parents, like many, felt it he she get a degree in something else first and leave music as a hobby. As E-hab was a talented artist, he decided to major in Architecture Engineering at the Technical University of Budapest. He graduated in 1995 and finished his master’s in the same major and University.

Whilst studying in university, E-hab decided to self-educate himself about the music industry and making music. He started reading books about software technology, music production, filming and so on. As a result, he soon became the head of the university’s music club.

E-hab also played the piano and keyboard in university, in addition to playing a variety of music genres in different bands. He played in an African band and a rock band. This is where he gained most of his musical experience.

His quest for musical knowledge did not stop there. E-hab wanted to expand his knowledge in Arabic music. Therefore, he took a summer course in “Al tarbiya al musiqiya” in Egypt to learn everything he needed to know about Arabic music and its origins.

In 1996, E-hab moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he set up a recording studio with the help of his friend Ziad. Their goal was to create their own hip-hop band and music. They called the band “Zihab” which derived from the band members names. However, there was a slight problem. Ziad rapped in English and E-hab had something else in mind. E-hab wanted to rap in Arabic so everyone can understand the message the band is sending and therefore relate to it. They came to an agreement and Ziad started writing lyrics in Arabic and E-hab was the producer. They recorded their first album which they called “Zihab 2000,” after the band name and the year it was released.

After struggling to find a company to release their album, Zihab lost hope. Suddenly, through a friend, they came to know about “SIDI”, the biggest Saudi Arabian CD manufacturer at the time, and decided to give the album one last shot. The company believed in their product, immediately signed a deal with Zihab, and released their album “Zihab 2000” in the year 2000. The album was a huge success, selling over 20,0000 copies without any promotion or marketing, solely through word of mouth!

As a result, a big release party was held in the UAE, in which MTV interviewed Zihab for the music show “mashaweer.” BMG records were present, amongst many other record companies, and signed a deal with Zihab to record their second album. Sadly, in that the same year, Ziad and E-hab went their separate ways and E-hab moved to the USA where he started working on the second ”Zihab” album alone.

The second album was called “ Keif    “ and was released in 2002. Unfortunately, the album was not as successful as the first as it was banned in KSA, Kuwait, Egypt, and Sudan due to some of its political content. Due to this, only 10,000 copies were sold.

E-hab made his first appearance in a live interview on Sudanese Television in 2000. He also performed some of the songs from “Zihab 2000” on the show.

The birth of Nas Jota

After the problem arising from the second album, E-hab decided to create his own music and production company in 2003 and named it “Nas Jota Records.” He started working with American rappers, such as TUG and Dutch Daimond... Nas Jota produced the album “….” The album won best package in 2003 and was played on the radio by DJ Flex from WPGC 95.5fm.

Consequently, the first Nas Jota album was released in 2004, and was called “Nas Jota,” after the record company name. The album consisted of 2 tracks in English and the rest in Arabic. It was a collaboration of 7 artists, Shurra and Cheb Amir, Yasser Rika, Dutch Diamond, Tug, Mojo, Big Moe and his 4 years old daughter Rayan.

The name Nas Jota Records was now well established and so they continued producing for different artists. Nas Jota produced 2 albums for Afghani singer Atash. Released in 2006, the albums were a mixture of hip-hop, Afghani, Egyptian, R&B, dance hall, and Rai music.

In 2006, Nas Jota performed in an international hip-hop night concert at the “Fur night Club” in WashingtonDC. The concert included artists from around the world such as Afghan singers Gambit, Madinah, and Atash…..tunisian Rapper ( T-shi Bo and Trappa) American rappers( TUG, Komplex and Booby Trap) Algerian Rai Singer (cheb Amir) American R&B singer ( Jessica Lee) Sudanese Rappers ( Zihab ,Mojo) morrocon flutist (Mohamed al-amir).

After all this success, E-hab still felt that Nas Jota did not stand out in this competitive industry. So, he decided to stop the creativity side and focus more on the business side of the company. E-hab bought the cameras, computers, and editing equipment and, whilst travelling in the US, he started shooting videos for free in order to get exposed. Nas Jota was now recognized by everyone.

Shortly after the September 11^th terrorist attacks, Nas Jota released the album “…..” promoting peace and tried to give a better image of Muslims to the world. The album was a collaboration between Nas Jota, producer and composer Ayman Alfeel, and TV director Abd Al Gadir Dawood. The album also included tracks by TUG and Ash. BBC radio also interviewed Nas Jota about the album.

“The Manhattan Project” was also recorded and released as part of TUG’s album in 2003

In 2007 NasJota released a song about Al Jazeera Television’s cameraman Sami Al-Hajj who is held prisoner in Guantanamo. Al Jazeera interviewed and published an article about this and broadcasted a segment about it on Al Jazeera Channel.

As a result of this hard work and dedication Nas Jota are running their business in Sudan, Egypt, UAE, Lebanon and the USA. In Sudan the business and all promotions are handled by Muneer, best known as “DJ Moe” who is a DJ on the Sudanese radio channel Mango fm.