 Over the next two decades, they became household names. People across the country would play their music. But the more popular they became, the more dangerous they were to the ruling party. Again and again, their songs would land them in prison. Under both the regimes of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar al-Sadat, freedom of expression was closely monitored, and any criticism of state affairs, even in songs, could be a punishable offense.