Not a Zouk band by any stretch of the imagination, nevertheless, this Danish hip-hop group is credited with creating one of the largest Zouk hits in recent memory with their original cover of Cheb Khaled’s much beloved song, “Aicha” in 2003.
Formed in 1997, Outlandish consists of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Moroccan background), Waqas Ali Qadri (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and Lenny Martinez (born in Honduras). All three members are religious, with Isam and Waqas being devout Muslims, and Lenny being a Catholic.
Their R&B/Hip-hop/Rap/soul music is influence by their diverse backgrounds (Arab, Pakistani, and Latin music), and although their songs are primarily in English, they typically feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, and Danish. All of these influences make the music of Outlandish somewhat unique and covering a wide variety of genres on their albums. Outlandish often include themes about Islam and contemporary issues facing young Muslims in the west in their music, while other times their songs define a nasheed-like unique genre.
So far they have produced four albums: Outland’s Official (2000), Bread And Barrels Of Water (2003), Beats, Rhymes & Life (2004) and Closer Than Veins (2005).
Last November 2006 Outlandish won the MTV EMAs as “Best Danish Act of the Year,” the same month as the creation of their new fan-site Elmoro4Life.com.
Isam Bachiri
Vocalist, rapper, producer, if Outlandish was a body then Isam would certainly be the brain. He writes the majority of the hooks and always comes up with the topics for the band’s songs. Creatively he has always had the overview of where Outlandish was and is headed. He has had a big hand in the videos that they have created. The ideas and the scripts come from him, the best of which would have to be “Walou” in which he came up with the whole idea and went to Marroco to over see the productions. Isam has always been concerned with what is happening around the world has never been afraid to speak his mind.
Waqas Ali Qadr
Rapper, producer, the heart of the group. Waqas is a sensitive and a pleasant person. He has endless ideas when it comes to producing side of things, which is his main focus. In the beggining Waqas was known as the angry young rapper with his agressive style. Now he is a completely changed person and artist. Being married and having a son has had its affect on him and has made him more calm and humble in his lyrics. He isn’t afraid to share his experiences, as a result, he has written openly and honestly about the ups and downs of his arranged marriage which has inspired many of his songs. One is never bored when in his company and he is able to control any crowd.
Lenny Martinez
Rapper, producer, the legs and feet of the band. If Isam is the brain who controls which directions Outlandish is going, Lenny is the one who makes it happen. A tight Spanish rapper with deep lyrics, he overseas all of the people who are involved with Outlandish from management to the record company. He is the group’s primary organizer, one who can always think and see things far in advance. Lenny has a great insight into the Latin music side of things and is the o ne the others always go to for inspiration. He was the one who came up with the idea of “I only ask of God”.
Outlandish’s music was featured in the first episode of the Zouk Nation Podcast.
