Raef (singer)

Raef Haggag (; born August 8, 1982) is an Egyptian-American singer.
Beginnings.
Raef picked up playing guitar during his time at the University of Maryland, College Park where he studied computer science.
After graduation, Raef worked briefly as a software engineer before leaving to teach high school for eight years. As he says:
"I decided to switch careers from a software eng. to a high school teacher because I wanted to help others in a more direct way (and because it was pretty boring sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day)". Raef taught computer programming in Montgomery County Public Schools.
Music career.
Teaching gave Raef more time to focus on songwriting, often performing at local coffee shops and busking at metro stations. He was introduced to the national stage after his trio rock band "Great Seneca" toured the United States of America as part of the "Voices for Change" initiative. Raef also joined the "Poetic Vision Tour"; a band of traveling musicians and poets catering to the American Muslim community. Raef did several Muslim-themed covers of popular mainstream songs, attracting young listeners wanting a modern take on religious music
Raef signed with Awakening Records and released his debut album "The Path" in 2014. In the summer of 2019 he released his second album "Mercy" with a notable shift towards rock and country music.
Success in Indonesia.
Since the release of his debut album "The Path", Raef has made several trips to Indonesia to promote his music and perform at live concerts. Appearing on Indonesian national television and invited by Bandung mayor Ridwan Kamil to perform at the Bandung Conference brought Raef and his music to millions of Indonesians. Raef was also the star host on 30 episodes of "The Journey of a Backpacker", a Ramadan TV series that aired on Kompas TV (later Trans7) across Indonesia and TV Alhijrah in Malaysia. In August 2015, Raef was awarded the "Platinum Award" for record sales in Indonesia. Following the blueprint of Season 1 of "The Journey of a Backpacker", Raef hosted Season 2, airing on Trans7, in which he traveled across Java, visiting 30 historic and iconic mosques.
"We Are Home" – music video project.
Using Detroit-based crowdfunding platform LaunchGood, over $22,000 via online donations were raised to fund the music video for "Home", directed by Los-Angeles based director, Lena Khan. The video shows Raef walking through American history observing contributions made by various immigrants to the United States. The video also features contributions made by Native Americans.