Trying to get by...

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Meet the group Outlandish

Salam, I would like to interduce this group to you, Outlandish !! Outlandish are a European hip-hop group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, they consist of Isam Bachiri (from Morocco), Waqas Ali Qadri (from Pakistan), and Lenny Martinez (from Honduras). All three members are religious, with Isam and Waqas being devout Muslims, and Lenny being at least nominally catholic. Their R&B/Hip-hop/Rap/soul music takes influences from their various backgrounds (Arab, Pakistani, and Latin music), and although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu, and Arabic. All these influences make the music of Outlandish somewhat unique and this is easy to notice from the variety of genres covered in their albums. Outlandish often include themes about Islam and contemporary issues facing young Muslims in the west in their music, and sometimes their songs define a nasheed-like unique genre. Their single Pacific To Pacific was in connection with an Amnesty International charity event. Next came the single Saturday Night, a song that was later to be included on the soundtrack for the Danish movie Pizza King. These singles were the prelude to their first album Outland's Official (2000) which was however only released in Denmark. The hit song Walou was later included on their second album Bread and Barrels of Water. Singles from their even more successful second album Bread And Barrels Of Water (2003) made the most impact on the music charts. Hit singles included Aicha (first made famous by Cheb Khaled) which made it to number one in the USA and Germany and received a lot of airplay across many Asian countries. The video to Aicha also won a best music video award. Guantanamo also made a strong impression on the European charts. An old Hindi chorus running through Peelo made it a smash hit amongst Indians and Pakistanis living in the West. Closer than Veins (2005) is Outlandish's much anticipated third album. The first single was Look Into My Eyes. The song's lyrics are based on a poem expressing the plight of those suffering from America’s foreign policy with regards to Israel and Palestine. This album showcased the group's more mature and religious outlook compared to their previous works. The album also features a track (I've Seen) with Sami Yusuf (a popular Muslim musician / nasheed artist of azeri origin). Outlandish recently have contributed to a track on Sami Yusuf's recent album My Ummah (2005) called Try Not To Cry, and Waqas Ali Qadri also features on the nasheed boy-band 786's Meditate from their album Straight Path (2005). Such collaborations between artists are becoming increasingly popular in the Muslim music world. Other Danish music contemporaries who have occasionally collaborated with Outlandish include Majid and Burhan G. Check out this SONG I fell in love with :-) Ohhhhhh My brothers , ohhhh my sisters... ohhhh Peace

5 comments:

Betqa said...

Wonderful song! I love it! I've actually been a fan of Outlandish for a few years now. They're quite popular here!
Cheers!

Al Ramahi said...

Man this is the best song ive heard lately! Im addicted to it...I am hearing it over and over and over at work!! its amazing...The video is amazing too! It is so simple..Yet so complicated!!

Anonymous said...

that's a really nice song.
thank you for sharing :)

PALFORCE said...

Betqa: This was the first time I heard of them and through this song I fell in love with thier style, now I'm gonna go and lookup the rest of thier songs.

Al ramahi: Me too bro, I have been listening to it al day long.

Bilotee: Aint it though?! glad you liked it :-)

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved their collaborations with Sami Yusuf (esp. Try Not to Cry), and I'm so glad that they're not politically shy (ie. Little Red Riding Hood). Of course, the Spanish rap doesn't hurt either ;)