#60 Isam B of Outlandish | Global hip-hop star on ‘Aicha’, fame, faith, fatherhood & Palestine - The MuslimCentric Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I spoke to Khaled in 2000, and I just told him, listen, I have this vision.
I want to do a remix of Aisha. And he was like, yeah, just go for it.
Do it. That song was important because it was a tribute to our mothers, aunties, daughters.
And it was post 9-11. Industry is just like any industry. They want to make money.
You know, I remember there was a program in Germany called Big Brother.

(00:22):
They wanted us to go in there and perform Aisha.
And I was just like, I'm not doing it. And I had to talk to a lot of CEOs to
explain to them I'm not doing it.
We were traveling the world. And this is post 9-11.
I mean, three brown, you know, brothers traveling over, you know,
a lot of security checks.
So, I mean, alhamdulillah, we saw the world write about these narratives that

(00:46):
are our history and not hide away, not hide Dean away, not hide the food away,
not hide your parents away or your mother's hijab away.
That song about Palestine, Look Into My Eyes, the poem was written by a Palestinian teenager.
And when my friend introduced me to that poem, I felt like, these are strong words, I need to.

(01:10):
But I had to take some of the words out.
So I've been very vocal about it here in Denmark. And people ask me,
why are you so passionate about it? I'm like, I've been singing about this since the beginning.
And we've been listening to it. We've
been listening to what's going on in Palestine ever since we were born.
Music.

(01:39):
As-salamu alaykum and welcome to another episode of the Muslim Centric Podcast.
I'm privileged to have singer-songwriter and activist Issam Bashiri as my guest in this episode.
You may know Issam as one of the founders of the hip-hop group Outlandish from
Denmark and they had a global hit including a number one in Germany with their cover of the song Aisha.

(02:00):
They were a band together for about 20 years from 1997 and were signed up to major record labels.
Their music was important as Muslims navigating a post-911 world and one of
their singles Guantanamo was also extremely successful.
Issam now pursues a solo career and had a recent release of a nasheed in the Ramadan.

(02:22):
In our interview I explore his Moroccan roots
and his relationship with his father who was a undocumented migrant
who moved to denmark in 1967 and isam
wrote a book called fatherland in 2021 about his
father's story we speak about isam's evolution
from a young shy introverted boy into a global musical superstar and how he

(02:45):
coped with the challenges of fame and celebrity whilst staying true to his faith
he tells me about saying no to performing on big brother together turning down Netflix acting roles,
how Hajj came right at the correct time for him and also he speaks about his
lifelong support for Palestine and in recent months he has been extremely active

(03:06):
on Danish media advocating for justice in Palestine.
So I hope you enjoyed this insightful discussion.
Just a reminder if you're enjoying the podcast please subscribe to our YouTube
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You can also sign up to my newsletter with the link in the episode notes where

(03:28):
I give some behind-the-scenes context and information about the interviews.
So until next time, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.
So Assalamu alaikum, Brother Issam. Thank you so much for joining us.
I think all the way from Denmark, Copenhagen, is that right?
That's right. That's right. Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Thank you so much for having me.

(03:50):
It's a real privilege for me as well. It's something that I've wanted to do
for a long time, actually, is to have a discussion with you.
And I'm sure a lot of people speak to you about what part your music has particularly
played in their own lives and their own journey.
But I remember we were as a family in Toronto last year at the Muslim Fest and

(04:11):
you were performing there and then previously to that, I think throughout my
university days I was also listening to your music,
and also particularly enjoyed,
which maybe we'll come on to is last Ramadan you were kind of keeping on your
Instagram and reciting Quran throughout the month and I think that was a real

(04:33):
pleasure to listen to So thank you so much for everything that you're doing for everyone else.
Thank you so much for telling me this.
It's always an honor and a privilege to be part of a live soundtrack.
That's part of the motivation and the inspiration.

(04:56):
It definitely feeds you as an artist. And it means something to,
to, you know, to hear back, to get these stories and.
It definitely does bring some justice and it brings some meaning to the whole
equation, alhamdulillah.
And I think we're very similar ages, actually, but probably very different life journeys.

(05:20):
And I think it's something hopefully we can hear a little bit about your story and your background.
And I think that is, inshallah, an inspiration and probably a lot of lessons
that you've learned along the way that you could maybe share with the listeners.
So you're from denmark and obviously of moroccan descent and i won't mention
the moroccan football team in the world cup mashallah that had the love of all

(05:42):
people from across the world but can i start maybe a bit about your early life and your childhood,
and i know that you've written this book called fatherland i think it was 2021,
yeah and unfortunately i think it's in danish so my danish is non-existent but i'd love to kind of
you know from reading some of the reviews about

(06:04):
it is is certainly something that you i think tell
your own journey and your parent your father's journey as well yeah could you
maybe tell us a bit about your early life in terms of growing up in denmark
and i'd love to hear a bit about your father's story as well yeah well first
and foremost i'm working I'm working on an English translation, so inshallah.

(06:27):
Inshallah, maybe this year, inshallah, that it'll be ready and so you guys can read it in English.
And I also love to do it in Arabic as well. So, so inshallah, make du'a.
But it's definitely, you know, it's a biography,
and it's telling the story of my father and then just told it, you know,

(06:50):
I'll take, I'll continue into my journey and basically I felt it was really
important when I lost my I lost my grandmother in 2017.
And it was, I just felt like, you know, it was important to, to, to document,

(07:14):
you know, this life that we live in because she's, you know,
she's suddenly just, you just realize how, how,
you know, how much do you actually remember from, from this person who lived a whole life?
And you know i've seen so

(07:35):
much and it's been there has been a center in
your family and suddenly you know they're not there anymore
how much do you remember can you quote something that they
said do you you know so i
just i felt like a need to to yeah
to document my family's story and i would start with my father and then to go

(07:58):
into my own story basically and yeah so i i did it in danish because i'm based
in denmark i was born in denmark and that's been you know that's that's where,
that's just my that's my home base so and and for me i also realized how important it was to

(08:20):
share his story, my father's story, as a guest worker who came to Europe in the mid-60s.
And how he managed to build up his life from scratch. And yeah.
You know that we don't believe in coincidence so you know just seeing the fate

(08:45):
of what allah has planned and it's really interesting because they're the ones
who bought islam to scandinavia,
we read in the history books about the vikings that visited the was the muslim umma,
and some of them converted and came back to scandinavia but the difference is

(09:08):
they didn't leave a community you don't have i mean they found some burials
and some graveyards with.
Yeah or you know the white sheets
with with the shahada inscribed on it but but that's maybe the closest you're

(09:30):
gonna find to a you know to a community so subhanallah i mean just reflecting
And reflecting upon that,
I must say that it was really inspiring to dig deep and just do the research and see how these,
you know, these first Muslims who came,
I know it's a different story in Scotland and in UK, but, you know,

(09:55):
every country has its story.
And the profound thing about this is,
you know, not much of his story is to be found in the museums or in the history
books and uh and and uh like i said i'm based in denmark so,

(10:15):
so that's that's also another thing that's a wake-up call for taking his story
and and again the importance of documenting and.
And sharing, you know, and also just making people aware, like,
hey, how come our museums are so poor when it comes to the history of the immigrants or,

(10:39):
yeah, the first Muslims, you know.
Out yeah i think that's actually a fascinating point
brother sam and i think there are parallels because in the
uk particularly there's this mass migration after
the second world war in the 50s and the 60s particularly from the indian subcontinent
so i think the migration pattern was a bit different and many of the people

(11:01):
that actually moved to england it was manual workers you know they're working
in factories and it was you know they didn't speak the language and they They
came with a few pennies and actually,
you know, the ones that moved to Scotland,
because this is another project that I've been involved in, is that we've kind
of wanted to capture the first-hand stories of that generation that came,

(11:24):
particularly in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s.
Because if you don't get it first-hand, you know, you'll get it second and third
eventually, and it won't be as rich as their own experiences.
And so I think we recorded like 100 interviews and worked with the museums here
to try and recognize the culture.
So it's a fascinating thing that I think we do need to promote.

(11:46):
But one of the things that we found was people didn't want to talk about it.
So it took a lot of trust to get people, particularly the females.
And I'd be interested to hear about your own, what your thoughts would be,
and particularly like your gran.
The women didn't want to talk about it either because they
didn't feel it was their place or they didn't think but they
were the ones you know i remember one of them one of

(12:08):
the aunties you know said look i came from pakistan and
i was in this little flat in glasgow it was gray
it was raining it was wet i couldn't speak
the language husband would go to work all day and she
goes i would just sit there and cry and cry and miss the
homeland you know and so people women didn't want to talk
about it but particularly even the men there

(12:30):
seemed to be a lot of trauma and and i think also they didn't
feel their stories were significant so it took
a lot of trust but it'd be fascinating to see did i mean did your
father was he open about these stories and your grand did she
you know would she share that or do you think it'd be easy to capture some of
these stories and those early generations yeah you know i had to convince obviously

(12:53):
i had to convince my father because he's always been kind of like an ambassador for us,
the kids in the family as a father figure, but also as a cultural ambassador.
He's always been reaching out to...
The communities around him and always felt like it was important to,

(13:17):
to connect and build bridges.
So from that perspective, I knew like he had what it takes.
He has what it takes to, to tell the story because I totally recognize what
you're saying there, that you also have a lot of from his generation that does,
that they don't want to speak.

(13:38):
They don't want to talk about it. They don't, you know, there's some trauma
in there. There's, you know, there's, there's also just, you know, why would I write a book?
I mean, one of the, one of the arguments my father used when he was trying to,
yeah, when he was giving me his arguments for, for not doing this project,

(13:58):
it was like, you know, we, we said our generation,
we don't write books, you know, we, that's not why we came here.
We came here to work and yeah, we, now we just did the mosque.
We don't write books you know yeah and and
and there's some truth into that you know there's some truth into
that i i understood completely what he was saying but

(14:20):
you know it's it's not right you know yeah so what but you but you have to understand
where he comes from you know so from a cultural perspective i understand clearly
where he where he comes from and people are scared of of speaking up and I think
it has something to do like the research I've done.
I see that being illegal in a country.

(14:44):
Can leave a certain impact on you.
I mean, that's part of the trauma that you just, even when you're not illegal
anymore in a country, you still have some sort of side effects or something
that still haunts you, you know?
And so you just rather not speak.

(15:08):
And people talk actually about that intergenerational trauma
because i think for that generation you know for
what they've achieved what they've gone through what they've seen you know
then it comes down to survival isn't it and then actually the
children you know like yourself and ourselves
it's about identity is then
where do we fit into this and then our children will have a different challenge

(15:30):
and then it gets watered out and i think it is something
that is so important that we think
and and this i mean what are your thoughts and even it
comes across a lot in your music but it's you know
with you know 40 50 years later on and in
europe we feel still facing the same if not
worse climate isn't it off the whole how we

(15:52):
treat particularly in uk there's such a big emphasis
about you know immigrants asylum seekers
refugees and it's and i guess that's why music is is so relevant to articulate
some of those experiences yeah i think i think we still i mean i think we're
on better terms you know i don't think it's the same as when our parents came or grandparents.

(16:19):
And we have to recognize that as well you know just so we don't lose hope or just you know,
be too negative or something about it i think we have to recognize that you
know we are gradually improving our situation and our.

(16:40):
Yeah you know a lot our lives here you know
and and the fact that we that we feel more and
more at home here is you know it's proof of that we we're getting somewhere
yeah and i'm seeing that i think i see it like when i come to london or i travel

(17:00):
you know different i see different from Muslim communities in the West.
And yes, as we progress and as we grow as a community, we become more and more visual.
You can see us. You can see us. And we don't hide away.

(17:24):
And maybe our parents' generation and grandparents'
generation, That was one mode that we use a lot, again, from the whole illegal life experience.
And suddenly it's important to be invisible and just, you know,

(17:46):
you hide away. You don't want attention.
But now it's different. I mean, we speak.
Some of us speak multiple languages. But we definitely speak the language where
we, you know, the country we were born in.
And yeah, so gradually things are changing.
I believe they're changing for the better, but there's definitely also some challenges.

(18:11):
And one of the challenges is, is yeah, the, the, you know, the whole Dean aspect,
Islam, being part of a Western culture.
That's something that we are seeing becoming more and more a part of Western culture, you know.

(18:33):
And yes, there is definitely people who are afraid.
There's definitely people who are afraid.
That they don't feel you know secure and but that's you know it has something to do with,
the dehumanization the demonization that's been
going on in the media for maybe 100 years maybe even

(18:53):
more than that but as as we get more and more into the society into society
because of work and education and sports and the cultural cultural scene the
music the poetry the the books books, the movies,
you know, we, we showing, we showing the beauty of, of what it means to be, yeah, to be a Muslim.

(19:19):
And that's, that's really important.
I mean, and sometimes it's, it's harmless, but it, it, it speaks volumes,
you know, it's cause you're impacting, you're impacting the culture.
And I think our parents' generation and our grandparents' generation have emphasized
a a lot on the finance, you know, because that's, most of them,

(19:44):
that's the reason why they came here. You know, very few came for Dawa.
But for our generation and the next generation, it's, it's all,
it's more than surviving,
it's, you know, we were born and raised here and we want to,
you know, we want to see ourselves in our, in what we call home,

(20:06):
you know, and, and so, So, so the traditions, you know, like Ramadan,
you take an example, you know, it doesn't have to be Pakistani or Asian traditions.
You're going to, you're going to start seeing, you're going to start seeing
traditions that has, you know, roots and traditions.

(20:26):
Well, that's formed here in the West, you know, but it's a Western Ramadan or Eid tradition.
And I think that's, you know, that's, again, gradually, slowly,
Ramadan by Ramadan, Eid by Eid.
You know, we're slowly finding our own, how do you say, way of doing this, you know.

(20:50):
Know so so and and and it's
with all like all the fields that
are out there like if it's music or poetry or even
even you know food so we
can use what our grandparents and parents
gave us but we can also you know
be inspired by this culture that we

(21:12):
that we that we call our own as well
right so and i guess we're still quite
young communities really isn't it 50 70 70
80 years to find that identity but can i
just take you back to your own kind of
early childhood and what are your kind of memories what was it like growing
up what was the household like was it a religious household was it you know

(21:36):
what was the setup like at home what are your kind of memories of those early
days and what sort of child were you what sort of you know at home and at school
yeah so the The household was,
I wouldn't say it was, you know, strict religious.
It was more like cultural Moroccan.
And I remember my parents, you know, they prayed and we would pray together.

(21:59):
But now it's always like, I've always been this more introvert kid trying to.
Yeah, trying to, trying to fit in when my father was, you know,
he has a very, he had a very positive outlook on, on life and society.
So he he's always been like, uh, this, I always had this drive,

(22:25):
you know, it was like, just always going, always out there, trying also new, new ideas.
Like he was, he was one of the first in Copenhagen to.
To open his own he called it like driving
instructor school you know and where
you know he would be teaching in arabic and

(22:47):
in in amazigh you know and then
danish and so he always had a thing with languages as
well but he kept so he kept
pushing kept climbing up the stairs of
society and so it
was it wasn't just money and he

(23:09):
wanted to he wanted to be a teacher as well and so at one point he was working
like three jobs i bet you know every all our parents and grandparents would
would know that narrative but at one point he his doctor told him like Like, listen,
if you keep going at this pace, you're going to get a heart attack.

(23:32):
So you need to relax.
And that was a good thing because I remember during the 80s,
I kind of like missed my father.
He was very involved in the community. He was helping out in this union.
And he was, yeah, just helping, you know, doing service to a lot of people.

(23:56):
And, but you gotta, you gotta remember the family as well. Right. So, yeah.
So Alhamdulillah, I never, I mean, we were like, I would call it like,
you know, went from working class, it was a working class family and you used
to travel to Morocco every summer or maybe second, second year we would go and we drove,

(24:19):
you know, my father would have his car and just fill it up with stuff and then
drive through Europe, Germany, France, Spain. How long would that take?
That would be like three, four days, depends on your, yeah, how busy you are.
Would you enjoy that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, that was a trip.

(24:44):
That road trip is mashallah. Fantastic.
Yeah, yeah, loved it, loved it. Good memory, you know, coming back.
I'm from the northeast part of Morocco, so it's a little city called Nador.
And, yeah, alhamdulillah. so
we and he's from the countryside and my mother's from like you know city.

(25:06):
So we would be staying at both places on and off and always you know it wasn't
like a week or two weeks we would be there for the month for the whole summer basically so,
yeah man mashallah what was your mom like when you were growing up yo my mother

(25:26):
is like you know she's the first school first,
institution of learning, man. She was home,
taking care of the house, taking care of the home. And,
yeah mashallah i mean uh she came
they got married in 70 74

(25:47):
and in 75 in morocco in 75 she came to denmark 76 my uh my elder sister was
born and 77 i was born and i had my brother they had my brother than in 1998.
No, sorry. Yeah. In 81, I believe it was. And then my sister in the, in 19.

(26:15):
So yeah, so it was, it was something because, you know, it was definitely a culture shock as well.
And, but so much, I mean, I did this, doing this biography,
I did it with my father because I knew that also like language wise,
you know, my, my Moroccan and my, the language of Hamazia, which is my mother

(26:40):
tongue is, is not that good anymore.
More so if i had to like retract that
i had to go back to another one and
stay there for a year or two or something and just to
you know get some take some
sessions and get some language course
or whatever but but i

(27:01):
would love to do it to do that project with my
mother as well because like you said i mean they just have it's.
A different perspective and it's a different it's as
equally important part of the narrative of
our lives you know so inshallah that's that's
another chapter and and we'll see if we we get
to that inshallah yeah alhamdulillah so

(27:24):
and what i mean what were
you was there quite a large kind of similar moroccan
muslim community in your school in your class or were
you a minority in terms of did
you feel no no yeah yeah definitely a minority already there
wasn't any moroccans there was maybe a pakistani
and turkish you know

(27:46):
but very few and did you
fit in or did you face racism and no i think prejudice you know that would i
think we you know as kids you always want to fit in you know there was some
experiences with some racism But I think over and all,

(28:08):
it was, it was, yeah, I was in a, in a pretty safe neighborhood and,
and, and we, it was, it was kind of like, you know, a little school as well.
So there was time and space for, for the kids.
It was later on during the teen years where we would move to the suburbs of

(28:30):
Copenhagen where it was a bit more divided.
Ethnic-wise and and that's where
also i met you know with gus and
lenny as well and we started outlandish and yeah
during the teen years where you would have the whole hip-hop influence

(28:52):
as well but during the childhood i was yeah i was living in a in a in a safe
neighborhood and the clothes everything was close by you know and and you know
they would they would notice like i said it was a little school and they would notice if you like,
they noticed that my voice,

(29:13):
you know, was, they had something, they noticed my voice basically and felt
like, you know, I should, I should take,
I should, I should move into a music school, should go to a music school instead of an ordinary one.
And, but SubhanAllah that school was so far away from, from my home and I didn't

(29:33):
feel safe, you know, going there.
So I just stayed in this ordinary elementary school.
And, you know, I didn't know anything. I wasn't into music or anything back
then. So I didn't know what they were talking about.
And just a kid in third grade, you know. Alhamdulillah.

(29:55):
But, yeah, so I felt, you know, pretty good and safe there, I would say.
Thing um and you and you said you you're a
shy or introverted child are you
still that way or i mean people might be surprised because you've performed
in front of probably tens of thousands of people yeah yeah you've been everywhere

(30:15):
has that been something you've you know changed or is that you've learned to
kind of no no yeah it's something you work on it's something you work on And I think,
you know, I like,
you know, when you're on stage,
you know, you don't really realize how many people that is watching you,

(30:37):
you know, it's almost like a conversation with, with one person.
And I think it's part of the courage to, to step into that zone is that you're
sharing with people, something that you love, you know, and something that you cherish.
So that's like the drive and the inspiration.

(31:01):
But because introvert can be, you know, you can be introvert in many ways. So, yeah.
And I'm not, you know, to this day, I'm not into,
you know, to the companies and the crowds and I'm still working my way when

(31:21):
it comes to molds and stuff, you know, so.
Do you find a lot of artists are similar, that they actually are quite introverted?
Because I think the more I kind of hear about, you know, artists and creatives
and people that have, you know, performers, you actually hear a lot of them,
you know, you know, and actors, etc.
You know, they are quite introverted in many ways. And, you know,

(31:43):
their art or the, you know, does provide them an outlet, which they almost they're
able to switch into and switch out of when they're on stage,
etc. But you've obviously spent a lot of time with other artists and performers.
Do you think there is some kind of commonality there? No, I think,
you know, people are different. You know, artists are different.
You know, different personalities, different characters, you know.

(32:09):
So, alhamdulillah, man, I mean, all shapes and sizes, you know.
And so, you know, my parents gave me the name Isan.
And Isan means the safeguarded. And I've always felt that, you know,
growing up and, you know, there was my big sister, there's my mother, there's my father.
And so in that way, for me, it's more like.

(32:34):
Yeah you you wanna at one point in your life
you you want to find that leadership you
know i just did um and subhanallah
going there and walking around the decava and doing the pawaf you know i was
leading my family and where i have two small kids as well and one of them on

(32:59):
my shoulders right and at one point my wife panicked because you know there's
so many people and the kids started,
just being a little bit uncomfortable I guess and we just had to take a break
but and she was she was considering just you know calling it off and just taking
a break or just going back to the hotel or whatever and I was like listen we started this,

(33:23):
and we're going to end this and I just need you to stay close.
Let's just stay together and then do this, bismillah. And alhamdulillah, we did it.
I mean, it was crowded, but it wasn't that crowded.
I mean, it's not Ramadan, I can't even, I've been there when it was Ramadan
as well, so, but, I mean, that place is always crowded, right? It's always crowded.

(33:48):
But alhamdulillah, we had a beautiful experience, experience a beautiful umrah
together as a family i think it's important as well to,
you know but again like it's almost like it's almost
like a life journey in itself just doing the umrah because you're going to go
through ups and downs and you're going to experience a little bit of this and

(34:10):
a little bit of that and you you will be tested and and you're going to feel
it in your feet as well and you mentioned Alhamdulillah you mentioned your own children so,
do you think I mean are you very mindful in terms of the father that you are.
Based on your own experiences of your own father. Yeah, I mean,

(34:33):
yeah, I try to be mindful.
I try to be, I guess, more in the present, you know.
And I think that's one thing that our generation has learned.
I mean, one thing that maybe a lot of us missed when we were growing up.

(34:56):
But that's, you know, part of the circumstances.
Like I said, when I was growing up, I was definitely, you know,
looking back, missed spending more time with my, with my father.
And one thing my father had though was he, like I said, he loved languages.
So he was really into reading.

(35:17):
He was into reading his newspaper and loved like dictionaries.
And also, you know, he had this ambassador role going on from the get-go,
you know, so he would always encourage us to go back to Morocco and, you know, visit,

(35:40):
see the traditions, see the culture,
know the language. language and some Hanla.
So he would, he would really like, you know, pace us and, and,
you know, sit down with us, uh, especially during the weekends,
you know, and, but you always got to, you know, balance things.

(36:01):
Cause you can't just, just because, you know, you love grammar and,
and, you know, uh, words and dictionary, it doesn't mean your kid will,
you know, so. So you can't live your own dreams through your children necessarily. Yeah.
Yeah. I guess so. I guess so. So, so, you know, it's just seeing the kid where the, where the kid is,

(36:24):
where the kid is in the present, you know, and, but then again,
also just, you know, inspiring and inspiring the, the kids.
Like I definitely can't help myself today.
Just sitting down with him and actually trying to read, you know,
Arabic or the Quran or, you know, but I, I sometimes just.

(36:48):
Take a deep breath and remember that, you know, I'm not my father,
but, you know, maybe I'm pushing this, pushing it too hard on him right now.
And can I ask you a bit about your outlandish days? Because obviously that was a big part of your life.
I was reading that certainly you were involved with the outlandish and founded

(37:11):
it from about 1997 to 2017.
So that's probably between the ages of 20.
And 40 which is the kind of your pivotal kind
of early years you know in adulthood and you
obviously formed outlandish with wakas who was
a pakistani muslim and lenny who was christian cuban

(37:32):
and honduran i think i mean
how do you feel about talking about outlandish days
because there's such a big part of your life is
that something that you fed up with people asking you
about that or is it still no no
you know are you okay with that no i'm okay with
that i'm really i'm good i mean like you said it's been a
big part of my life you know and subhanallah

(37:55):
man like 20 years time is flying man and so but we had a we had an amazing journey
and i always feel like yes it was it was a privilege and an honor to be able
to create and be creative,
doing those doing these those times you know because a lot of things happened.

(38:22):
During those times you know we wouldn't just it wasn't just entertainment but
we were actually talking about what was going on around us and you know some
of the things that some of the narratives,
that we've been talking about now you know the childhood the,
yeah the teenagers uh the the racism the the being muslim in the west you know

(38:48):
all this i mean all this had an influence on our music and and you know my mother
yeah like my mother she loved music when she was.
Yeah back in the days now she's now she's into the quran you know so alhamdulillah
we we we recite together and but uh you know she was really a big fan of especially like classic,

(39:11):
artists like um and fairuz and abdul hakim half of the believe that's his name
yeah like she they had vinyls and they had cassettes and so you know yeah when
we started getting into the break dancing
and, and writing lyrics and I mean, we figured out pretty fast that we couldn't

(39:34):
break, I couldn't break dance cuz I was, you know, I, I just really,
I, I suck at, at break dancing, but you know, you, you do what your friends are doing, you know?
So, and like, we have an saying in Morocco, you know, tell me what your friends,
who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are, something like that.
And it's true, I mean, we had a brotherhood and a friendship,

(39:58):
and it's always the teenagers.
Teenagers, I mean, that's what matters, you know. Friends matter a lot during the teenagers.
It's just something that, you know, Allah has put in us.
It means the world to you that, you know, you have a, that's why community is so important, right?
But especially during the teenagers, just, you know.

(40:20):
So how did you kind
of meet wakar and teleni we were neighbors
we lived in the same in the same area basically
we lived in the same area we used to play soccer
or football sorry and yeah and from there it just went into like i said the
break dancing and then it went into the uh the rapping and writing lyrics and

(40:45):
doing demos and then just you know like any other band doing demos and going to high school,
using the facilities there,
performing at some of the high school concerts and just getting more and more
experience and, you know, finding yourself also just because we were really

(41:06):
inspired by, you know, the American,
the African-American and rap scene,
but also the French and some of the, I remember even, you know.
There's some Brits as well, you know, Asian Deaf Foundation,
different vibes, you know, and you just see, you're looking for, you know, a mirror.

(41:31):
You're looking for someone that resembles you, someone that just,
you know, that had your sound, you know, and I think in the,
in the, in the African-American.
Sound, we'd see, we would hear the minority, you know, we would,
we would understand that's what we, you know, there are minority over there.

(41:51):
We are minority over here.
Even though there's different society, different societies, different challenges, but, you.
It definitely inspired us you know but the french scene i would say was closer because,
you know they look like us they look like you know arabs or moroccans or north africans or.

(42:16):
You know then you have in the brits there was definitely more asians you know
so the whole thing just was loads of inspiration loads of inspiration and that's
when we realized that Like we had to start digging in our parents,
you know, music and culture and trying to find our own sound and write about

(42:37):
these, you know, narratives that are our history and not hide away,
you know, not hide away, not hide Dean away, not hide, you know,
the food away, not hide your parents away or your mother's hijab away.
Way, but talk about it and try to see where is the poetry in that whole narrative. You know?

(43:00):
So when we came out, we came out with no excuses.
I mean, we were just, we were just, we were just sharing our stories,
you know, and and we won a Danish Grammy with the first album and then for the
second, And that's when Aisha hit and it became an international journey.

(43:21):
Yeah. And we were supposed to be released in U.S. as well.
And subhanAllah, this album, Bread and Boughs of Water, came after 9-11. It was post 9-11.
And so that whole thing was going on as well. Yeah.
And I remember releasing Aisha. That was, I believe it was the first song that we released in 2003.

(43:51):
And that was in doing, I think, spring.
And I remember clearly that winter, 2003, January, I did Hajj.
I did Hajj. I went to Mecca. And I came back.
I wouldn't say changed but it was definitely a
seed that was planted yeah and yeah

(44:14):
and that had the effect like on
you see the video of aisha yeah you
know that just i just knew like we wanted to go we wanted to show and also just
to dare to you know show it as it is and not not compromise you And I think

(44:36):
that was a really powerful video.
I mean, I don't know if you remember it.
Yeah, no, no, no. I used to watch it with myself and then with the kids as well
since they've been growing up.
Because I think what people underestimate Islam is, or perhaps the younger people
that weren't around at that time as we get older.

(44:57):
It wasn't just, I think, how long outlandish we're doing this and what they
produce, but it was the timing as well.
And i think people forget the time as you mentioned after 9-11
yeah it was a massive kind of shock to
the whole world but especially muslims in the west because we were looking
for well actually do we belong here i remember you know

(45:18):
those discussions amongst my friends you know
do we you know are we british should we be in the
west do we need to leave are we going to get forced out
and there was this real struggle of finding
positive voices positive identity and narrative
and I think that's where
certainly when I started to get into outlandish was

(45:38):
after that kind of 2002 2003
and because we found here it was really as a Scottish guy sitting here so one
was there was Muslims that were in the creative arts because I think that's
something we had lost particularly for many decades in the kind of.

(46:01):
Indeed subcontinent was as you know the migrants that
came to the uk because you know it was all about education and work
and the arts and you know creatives were
kind of weren't really prioritized but it
was that idea of well actually there's muslims
up there but also it's with a positive message the
music wasn't just music for the sake of music it was every

(46:22):
song almost had a message behind it and that's
something that in those days i remember because we were
kind of initially you know is getting more
you know into our deen was well we got into the sheeds
right which is then you know which is great because
that was new and use of islam cds and zain
bicha and dawood warns and then you're getting older and you say well i need

(46:43):
something a wee bit more i can't keep listening to these the sheath and that's
what outlandish was resonating with that young side of well actually you know
where's our identity where are we fitting and then you know aisha which was
you know amazing but the video as you mentioned you know hijab wearing.
Massive you know yes hit but also
i think people forget is how the other

(47:06):
big thing that struck with me is that you were the major record label it
wasn't just a you know a muslim record label is that
you'd gone kind of mainstream that idea for
i think was it was rca sony bmg over
the years is that you know you were actually mainstream so
it wasn't just a niche market no and
that helped with our identity i think particularly to say

(47:28):
well actually this is something that we can relate to and resonate with
so i think the timing post 9-11 it was
it was something that i think is pivotal and that's what you know nobody can
take that away from you guys in terms of what you produced around that time
and the influence i think and particularly my generation but yeah no i think
it It was so needed at that time.

(47:52):
It was something positive because I think we were shaken as,
you know, finding our identity because it was such a massive. SubhanAllah.
One thing I realized was, you know, like I said, I went to, I did hajj and it
was out of the blue, man. I didn't really prepare anything.

(48:13):
You know, it was just during January 2003. 2003, the album bread and bow,
the Florida was out during the summer 2002.
Yeah. So those were formative years, man.
I mean, that album dropped in a very important time and I feel like Aisha was

(48:33):
just like almost like an anthem of hope that I heard a lot of,
we've got a lot of fan mails,
a lot of attention from the world, especially because of that song.
Song, and especially because of the video, but most importantly, because of the song.
I mean, I understand that as an artist, you are first and foremost.

(48:55):
Your songs, you know, the message is actually, it's not on the first world.
It's secondary, you know, and, but because it was post nine 11,
people, people needed, people were looking for light.
People were looking for hope. People were looking for, you know,

(49:17):
something that just brought people together.
Other and when we did that it just
yeah it changed the song totally i
mean because people thought it was just a love song you
know and it wasn't it was a tribute to the women in
our community in our lives in our families you
know and so it

(49:39):
just started how did i come
about sorry to interrupt up so obviously
there was the khaled version yeah how
does it go from there to you adding
your your lyrics and stuff was it a kind of planned or
was it just kind of fell into it how did no like
i said i mean did you know it was gonna be a hit you know i believe that everything

(50:03):
happens by the will of allah and i used like i said doing doing my childhood
and youth we would go back to Morocco every summer and I remember in the mid nineties.
Sitting on the roof top of, in the family house and just listening to,

(50:23):
you know, the sunset and just listening to the track of that summer was Aisha
Shab Khalid and I just remember thinking,
I have to do a remix of this song, you know, and that's, that was like an oath
or something, but that, that was.

(50:44):
It was bound to happen and it happened. And Alhamdulillah. And,
The timing was, yeah, so when it dropped, I remember I was doing hajj when Agass
called me and I was in Mecca.
And he said, the DJs are playing the song. I mean, in the club.

(51:07):
You know, so I was like, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but we take it.
I mean, it is what it is. but he was like listen because
we didn't even release the song yet so they the djs just took it from the album
they took it themselves and that's the you know they say that's the that's the
best way to break a song it's just when the djs you know just out of own will basically start.

(51:35):
Encouraging people to listen to this song right so so the radios didn't even
play it it was the DJs, and then the radio started demanding like,
Hey, this song should be the next single.
And from there, it was just history. I mean, the rest was history,
Germany, UK, Spain, different parts of Europe, different parts of Asia.

(51:59):
And, and then, you know, the big dream, America, right.
And subhanAllah, we, we went there, we went to New York, we were traveling in
the world and this is post 9 11 i mean three brown you know brothers traveling
or you know a lot of how do you call it extra check yeah what do you call it

(52:19):
security checks and security checks,
yeah a lot of a lot of security checks so we we i mean we saw the world and
we We were supposed to drop the album in America as well.
We had a little showcase for L.A. Reid and his people.

(52:43):
Subhanallah, a month after that showcase, we heard that L.A.
Reid and his company went bankruptcy.
And it just stopped there, you know, but we were still traveling the whole world
and, you know, busy with promoting and, you know, singing Aisha.
Did you have to get permission from Khaled to?

(53:05):
Yeah, yeah, of course. I spoke to Khaled in 2000 and I just told him,
listen, I have this vision.
I want to do a, you know, a remix of Aisha.
And he was like, yeah, just go for it. Do it.
SubhanAllah so yeah Alhamdulillah man I mean that song was was important because

(53:27):
it was a tribute to our mothers aunties daughters and and,
it was post 9-11 so we you know we could have chosen to,
be more careless and just be artists on stage and not talk about what's going
on around us just like today with Azza what's going on in Al-Razza.

(53:49):
If you look at what's going on in Top 10 or Top 100, you see how many of those
songs are actually talking about what's going on in the world.
Because you guys were doing it back in the... Look into my eyes as well, wasn't it?
That's... Yeah, yeah. So that whole thing, I mean, again, that was the...

(54:13):
It had the snowball effect, you know, from the hajj. Like I said, a seed was planted.
And that next album, Closer Than Vain, was, you know, it was very spiritual,
inspired album also lyrically.
But that's where, you know, that song about Palestine, Look Into My Eyes, also is born from.

(54:35):
I mean, the poem was written by a Palestinian teenager.
And when my friend introduced me to that poem,
I just, I felt like strong words I need to, but I had to like take some,
some of the words out, you know, you know, like the word Zionist was in there.
I couldn't, you know, that had to, that had to go out.

(54:58):
And there was another line that said, give me liberty or give me death.
That was actually the closing line.
And I had to take that out as well. of and but just
listening to that song today and reflecting
upon the lyrics it's just
yeah i mean horrific and it's tragedy that

(55:19):
you know those words still count today and
it's still the same and there's nothing new so i've
been very vocal about it here in denmark and people ask me
why are you so passionate about it i'm like i've been singing about
this since you know yeah since the
beginning and and we've been
listening to it we've been listening to what's going on in

(55:39):
in palestine for you know ever since we were
born i asked my father the other day i
told him like why i don't remember us going to the demonstrations or you know
and screaming our lungs out where were you guys in the 80s and and he was like
son we were just you know they they That made us forget about it.

(56:03):
I just think... I think he means the world. Like, just...
You know, everyone is busy with their own dunya and this is going on and it's
not really in our news that often or it's not really getting the attention that
it deserves because the politicians don't want to talk about it and they don't

(56:23):
want to, you know, they have interests,
you know, they're taking care of their own businesses as well.
And so Alhamdulillah for the social media, man, because I've been telling the
media straight over here in Denmark, just, hey, it's not thanks to you guys. You guys suck.
You guys have not been doing a good job.
We got to be honest about this. This has been going on for 75 years. It's not thanks.

(56:48):
I mean, it's partly thanks to you because you guys are doing an awful job at
telling us what's going on in Palestine.
Thing you know and you need you need to ask some
serious question about why is it why why
why does it suck this much i mean with the media
because you and you do a lot oh sorry

(57:08):
sorry sorry carry on sorry oh yeah just just you know thanking people in social
media for bringing and bringing the truth to the table you know and why can't
we talk about this why can't we criticize israel and And what is, what it's doing,
you know, and SubhanAllah it's just, yeah, man, it's, it's the hypocrisy is clear.

(57:34):
The truth is getting out there and it's getting Alhamdulillah more and more exposed.
And, and we just need to continue sharing and, you know, being vocal about this.
And one part of it is also to write about, write songs about,
do movies about it, poems about it, whatever talent God has given you,

(57:56):
use that to spread truth.
And I understand that it's uncomfortable.
I understand that you lose some, you can be canceled and stuff, but I think.
You know, we at a point where we can communicate at a certain level where,

(58:17):
you know, everyone understands what we're saying and it's not just,
you know, it's not a Muslim thing.
It's not an ethnicity thing. It's, it's a human thing, you know?
And, and so we need to speak up and we need to unify and come together.
And yeah, so I'm really proud of that song.
Look into my eyes because it's been, it's part of my journey.

(58:40):
Only spotter mark had experience to be honest with you because you
know you mentioned obviously you are very you know
appear on media etc and you know denmark
etc and and raising your voice what's
your analysis of other people that have a
platform other artists that are not saying anything
on this issue because i think many communities you're

(59:02):
waiting for people to you know
to to say and and
you know to raise a profile and address the issue and then
you have people with massive platforms that are
silent on the issue or you know it's very kind of wishy-washy i mean what's
your kind of take on what's what's happening there yeah well you know everyone

(59:25):
is watching his own shop so to say you know everyone is is taking care of themselves.
And people are afraid of, you know, losing,
bread and butter which is understandable as well
you know i understand that and to a certain point i respect that i think for

(59:47):
me like i said it's this is something that i've been listening to all my life
this problem this this the settlements the occupation and it wasn't really in the news,
that much but I remember going to the Friday prayer with my father and the imam
would scream his lungs out and I would ask my father like what is this why is

(01:00:13):
he so mad you know what is going on.
And my father would really would not really give me
a you know straight answer because I don't
know he thought it's too political and you're a
kid what do you understand or whatever but I
just remember the amount really you know showing his
anger and because he

(01:00:36):
knew something that the rest of
society didn't know in the
west so yeah yeah and and just thinking about the industry because which you're
involved from especially in those kind of outlandish years for 20 years were
you ever were the times when you were expected to compromise your faith or your principles,

(01:01:00):
for your career and i'm thinking because we hear
that in other artists and performers particularly when
they go to hollywood or they go to you know you know the the big players and
when you become mainstream and you're working with mainstream labels yeah did
you did you feel that pressure Did you feel that you had the expectation to

(01:01:21):
compromise And how did you cope with that How did you deal with that.
Because there's that pressure, obviously, you're a cog in the wheel making these
companies a lot of money and, you know, they want to see results.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that pressure? Yeah, most definitely. What's your reflection on the industry?
The industry is just like any industry. They want to make money, you know, and sex sells.

(01:01:43):
So, you know, so yeah, there's definitely a lot of battles you got to take as an artist.
But, you know, you got to take as a human being, you know.
Is one thing to because they you know if you're number one if you're the top seller artist,

(01:02:05):
they're going to try to match you with the top program that people are watching right now,
and I remember there was a program in Germany called Big Brother you guys know
that yeah yeah the reality show where you go into a house yeah yeah yeah and
they do all sorts of things and you know Did you get invited on that?

(01:02:26):
Yeah, yeah. They wanted us to go in there and perform Aisha.
And I was just like, I'm not doing it. And I had to talk to a lot of CEOs to
explain to them I'm not doing it. You know?
This is not my thing. And I pissed some CEOs off, definitely.
But, so, yeah, you're going to have a lot of these, you know.

(01:02:47):
But, I mean, everyone. one.
I mean, this is what we believe in as Muslims, is life is a test, right?
And you are going to be tested. And,
So, yeah, I mean, just one of the reflections that, you know,

(01:03:08):
that I've learned from this whole journey of, you know, the Hajj experience was,
like I said, it was, I wasn't prepared for Hajj, you know, I had the time,
I had the money, I had the health, I was, you know, I had basically what it took.
But I didn't prepare myself like for going.

(01:03:30):
It was just, I was just in, I definitely feel I was blessed and I was invited to go by Allah.
And the reason for that was cause just three months later, my,
you know, Aisha went number one and I was about to be prepared for that whole circus.

(01:03:52):
You know? So I had to go to an extreme to get prepared for another extreme. SubhanAllah.
Because you were in your mid-twenties, isn't it?
So that's your prime where attention, fame, money, celebrity,
popularity, everything is laid out in front of you.

(01:04:15):
Years and all the you know so when i came back from
my pilgrimage i was on my prayer and i was on you know and one thing i've learned
is like when you're number one you can get anything you want and literally so
if all you want is you know you just want to find out which way is qibla and,

(01:04:36):
you want to pray and you know you want to you want to make sure that your food
is halal no questions asked, just do it, you know, and they do it.
So it was, it was, it was definitely like a, yeah, black and white worlds just
meeting each other and, and you had to navigate in that.

(01:05:03):
But yeah, I mean, I'm really proud of the albums that we put out during these
years, because like I said, a lot of things was going on in the world and,
and, and we were, you know, we were documenting, you know, we weren't,
we weren't really dodging anything.
And you can do a lot with poetry, you know, you can.

(01:05:24):
And it's important to, yeah, to document, definitely.
So in 2017, Outlandish, I think you guys decided to go your separate ways.
Yeah. After being together for about 20 years, you know, and as friends.
Just as a wider point, what do you, what's your advice for those who are wanting

(01:05:46):
to do a project or a business or a venture with friends?
Friends because people will often you know people
will hear different things particularly i've heard in terms of business
people will say never go into business with your friends it
never ends well or some people say obviously if
you have the right you know you know
you go in with your eyes open and you know you're all on the same you

(01:06:07):
know level playing field and you know things can
work out so me even staying together for 20 years is a massive achievement i
mean what's your kind of reflections on or advice on a kind of doing a project
with friends and people you're close to and then i guess your life since since
then since outlandish has kind of you know people went their own ways,

(01:06:30):
no yeah yeah i mean i think it's a beautiful thing if you guys had the synergy
to to do to do a project together,
use your friendship to go into a business together.
And so it's good to, you know, share, split the whole thing equally.

(01:06:55):
That's a good start.
And then just, you know, I mean, it's, it's, the synergy is a blessing,
is a blessing from God because nothing really lasts forever.
So being able to be in the same room and create something beautiful, that's a big thing.

(01:07:16):
To sustain that, that's more like, that's the art, right?
To keep the friendship going and not to see it dismantle or fall apart.
We see that all the time. We see that all the time and it's just human nature, really.
But it's also important to stay true to yourself and even within the group and

(01:07:42):
just to know when it's time to say you know alhamdulillah we've had a beautiful
journey but it's time to to move on so,
you know they say that everything happens by the will of allah so
i think yeah we've enjoyed
the journey and for me

(01:08:02):
it was time to look more
within you know and what always been what what's always been the drive for me
was that's that's where you know the whole drive is you know where the passion
for writing songs it's not even just the art of writing songs it's more like

(01:08:22):
seeing the poetry in your life, you know?
And one of the songs that I put out was in Danish.
I mean, SubhanAllah, Allah put me in Denmark.
You know, I speak Danish and we only 6 million people speak in Danish.
So talking to these people, I mean, like I was, this speaking of the whole thing with Ghazza, right?

(01:08:43):
I was, they say I was one of the first to go against the prime minister of Denmark. mind.
One of the, you know, public, yeah, public people or people was out there.
And it was important for me to just say what I feel, you know,
and say, hey, something's wrong here.

(01:09:04):
You can't just say Israel is a democratic state.
And, you know, Hamas are terrorists. And that's how we're going to talk about
this. It's not that's not right.
It's not right. You know, Israel has been terrorizing for this last 75 years. And.
And yeah the palestinians have the right to defend themselves as well you know but from the get-go,

(01:09:25):
always against terrorism i don't care who commits it it's wrong civilians stop
killing civilians stop if we can't agree on that yeah i mean i mean we just
everyone lose but that brings me back to,
my own life and you know the traditions that i was brought up brought up with
and one of of them is ramadan so wrote this song in danish and i've actually

(01:09:49):
done a translation of it in english as well and in some other languages that
i'm looking forward to put out part of my,
future album inshallah that is that'll be yeah put out soon inshallah.
Inshallah inshallah and what's the yeah yes is it English is that what's the kind of,

(01:10:12):
you working on things at the moment yeah yeah I'm working on a I'm working on
more like an Ashid project a more spiritual,
concept of an album and but this is you know like writing about Ramadan is just
something that is you know it's close to me it's been part of my life like my

(01:10:34):
whole life is so close to me that,
you know, you might not even see it, but to actually document that in a song,
that would be remembered for the,
not just the rest of your life, maybe, you know, just like Talal Badru,
Talal Badru Alayna, no one knows who wrote that.
It's just a song. Yeah. You know, it's not, it's not Wahi, it's not a revelation, it's a song.

(01:10:58):
It's someone who documented and who, you know, made a tribute to the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam coming to Medina in a poetic way.
And this is almost 1500 years
ago and we still singing that song yeah you know
so so it's just the art of you know

(01:11:21):
seeing who you are as a human being your identity
your culture your heritage everything that your parents have given you
and just just bringing
that just giving it giving it its respect you
know so i wrote this song in danish and when i wrote it with my friends two
of them are non-muslims but we could all agree upon what you know i had to explain

(01:11:43):
another brother turkish brother also was was whether we were four writing this
song and and just you know,
i remember the the the right wing in this country just making making a fuzz and and and.

(01:12:03):
Making a fuzz about it in the news and in the newspapers just in
the media because they were
almost like they were scared they were scared of a beautiful
song about ramadan you know in their
own language yeah you know that
really brings me back to the first topic that we talked about you
know when you know islam in the west and are we are we really you know like

(01:12:27):
you said post 9 11 should we stay here should we go back to whatever you know
so yeah we got we got work to do yeah and inshallah i mean dunya won't.
Make us fall asleep you know yeah brother sam you you've obviously achieved
a lot and done you know had a lot of experiences over the years and i guess

(01:12:51):
you know at the top of your game as well,
and i'm wondering about this idea of sacrifice and to achieve anything in life
you know that is Worth having You need to sacrifice something,
What do you think you've had to sacrifice Over the years To do what you love And what you're good at,

(01:13:12):
yeah i think you definitely have to nurture your your soul to,
you do nurturing your soul when you're sacrificing and protecting yourself you
know and that could be anything from a gig anything from a promotion stunt promotion gig whatever,

(01:13:35):
you know there's a very thin line between art and money and you want to you
want to try to stay as credible, as credible as possible to, to who you are.
And just the other day I turned, I had this offer of playing the villain in a.

(01:13:55):
Netflix series in here in Denmark. And I just read the script and I just knew like, yes, I saw him.
Uh, first and foremost, I'm not, I'm not really, I'm not really an actor,
but you do see that, you know, artists getting into acting because.
Yeah, it just goes hand in hand, right? But I really like this villain role,

(01:14:18):
but, you know, just his character, what he was doing with his chick.
And I like Halal Samay, come on, what are you talking about?
What are you talking about? I'm not going to do this. Halal,
just say no, thank you and move on.
You know, Allah has better plans for you. So, and then just,

(01:14:42):
you know, try to focus on what is it that, you know, you want to use this platform
for, you know, or to, what's the goal?
I mean, and, and yeah, loads of Tawakkul, I would say loads of Tawakkul and, um.
Yeah and then you gotta yeah you gotta be you gotta be patient and you gotta,

(01:15:06):
have some good people around you that understands your perspective on life,
and it is just what it is man i mean like you know you can't get everything
and you can't you can't get everyone to you can't make everyone love you you
know it's fun being number one because you You get a lot of attention and you get a lot of love,

(01:15:27):
you know, it's, it's humbling and it's, it's overwhelming as well,
but you also got to just understand that this is, you know, it was in your,
it's, it's part of fate and even this, this, the taste of it can be very sweet
and you want to taste that sweetness again,

(01:15:49):
but you got to accept that it's not in your hand, you know, a lot of decides
who gets what and the, the biggest,
yeah, man.
I mean, just to be, you know, try to be satisfied with what you have,
you know, is, is probably one of the biggest gifts of, of, of, of all this.

(01:16:15):
I mean, that's one of the hardest thing I would say, especially in,
in, in the world that we live today, where everything is just,
you can see anything, you know, how you release social media and Daniel,
we just talking about, I was just giving like.
My respects to the social media for putting the truth out
there but at the same time it's also just you know everything is
there to see you know and you want to you want to follow the artist you want

(01:16:38):
to follow the actors you want to follow the you know the scholars you want to
and there's this picture perfect yeah and we all know it's not really like that
but you know you get it's dunya In the end, it's the feeling, so.
Alhamdulillah, I mean, but always, you know,
have hope and ambitious, be ambitious and go for it, you know,

(01:17:03):
but do it in a way where you can always,
see yourself in the mirror and be proud of yourself, you know.
And I, as you know, as I may have mentioned, So I'm a psychiatrist,
so I'm particularly interested in mental health now.
Mashallah, I didn't know that. Yeah, so people obviously go through highs and lows in life.

(01:17:29):
What advice would you give to anyone that is struggling or, you know,
is going through a difficult time in life, whatever that might be,
and what has kind of helped you, or how have you kind of dealt with your kind of difficult times?
Because everyone will experience this. You know, what advice could you give?
Yeah, subhanAllah.

(01:17:50):
You know, there's no quick fixes. You know, things happen gradually.
That's the rule of thumb in this life that Allah has given us.
Everything happens gradually.
And you got to nurture it.
So whatever obstacles is in front of you,
a lot of sabr a lot of patience and you know it's a cliche hard work obviously,

(01:18:17):
but but small steps like i said gradually you can overcome whatever it is and
then you know use the some of the tools that was that's been given to us by
the prophets also fasting.
Reciting, you know, I mean, just you ask any doctor or, you know, specialist,

(01:18:41):
mental health, whatever, you know, they'll tell you like it's the house to sing,
you know, so Allah has given us the Quran because we need to have that on our
tongue, you know, and so learning to actually do the tajweed, that's a good thing.
It's a good thing to spend time, you know, some, some lights to,

(01:19:02):
to reflect some are more like, you know, I just want to recite.
You know, and inshallah, you know, light will, uh, will enter your life,
but it's subhanAllah, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's tough.
But you know again like is a test
we know that and gradually will

(01:19:25):
will will come through inshallah and my
final question brother Islam is your legacy
so how would you like to be remembered oh
I think this I think you know
I can sit here and say whatever but I
think when it comes down to the fact it's

(01:19:46):
all about documentation and documentation for
me part of that is my song
I've done a lot of interviews I've done a lot of articles I've
done a lot of TV podcast whatever but I think the songs like I said would stand
out because they you know it's it's it's observations it's reflection poetry

(01:20:10):
just like not to compare,
but what is the Quran? Quran is Allah's speech.
And Allah's speech is, when you read it, you reflect.
And if you do the reciting, if you do it justice, you're gonna get that beauty

(01:20:35):
of it, just to listen to it and just to hear it and just to.
You know get it out of your chest i use your voice so yeah alhamdulillah i hope i hope that,
i hope that my songs will speak for himself and yeah inspire my own generation

(01:20:55):
and next generation i meet a lot of like you said you're in muslim fest and
do you got kids yeah yeah three kids MashaAllah,
they were there as well. MashaAllah, alhamdulillah. How old are they?
So the eldest is 17, then 14, and then 10.
MashaAllah. So they're excited that I'm speaking to you today as well,

(01:21:17):
because they've grown up with your songs as well.
MashaAllah. So yeah, so when I meet them, that's when I feel old.
But it's just interesting to hear, like, yeah, they keep saying,
like, you know, my parents played your music for us.
Alhamdulillah I keep telling them your parents have good taste mashallah.

(01:21:40):
I pray inshallah Allah continues to give you inspiration and steadfastness to
continue on the amazing work that you've been doing for many decades thank you
so much for your support continue to inspire people around the world inshallah
and look forward to your next projects particularly the Ramadan,

(01:22:00):
inshallah A song that you're working on And maybe some Quran recitation This
Ramadan as well You'll know that there'll be People across the world Listening
as you Just stick that on I used to listen to it After Taraweeh And they're
just nice Because they're hearing Beautiful other recitations As well so,
Masallah Keep it How can people follow you Or keep up to date with you?
Just follow me on the Instagram I believe it's called Asan B Official On Instagram

(01:22:25):
And this Ramadan InshaAllah We'll do something special We actually got I spoke to.
What's it called the municipality uh in my in my in my city and they granted us some,
funding to to do these ramadan lights
just inspired actually by one of
the pictures i saw from london last year where they did this happy ramadan thing

(01:22:50):
did you see that yeah yeah i think it was in social media i don't know downtown
somewhere shopping street so we've We've done it in Danish and it's going to
be like 18 meters and downtown in my part of Copenhagen.
And then again, it's all about documentation and representation,

(01:23:10):
you know, being seen as a, yeah, it's, it's going to be there the whole Ramadan.
It's going to be, you know, it's going to be light the whole Ramadan,
like just wishing people a blessed Ramadan.
And inshallah people will you
know get together and just be just talk about
you know not just Ramadan but just you know as a human being what does that

(01:23:33):
mean you know because you know we take it for granted as in we go to the mosque
we have our tradition we know what we're doing we have our traditions we go
with our families our home iftar tarawih.
Etc etc because it's all about you know the retreat treat that you have to care,
but, you know, does, does the study know that it's Ramadan or is it just March?

(01:23:59):
You know? Absolutely. It's amazing. So, yeah, I mean, it's an informative aspect
of it and, and, and it's definitely like, hey, we don't want to be in the basement anymore, man.
We don't want to, we don't want to, you know, hide it, hide away,
you know, this would just be, but we should do it in a, also in a beautiful way.
And so inshallah man inshallah so so watch i'm gonna post some of these things on instagram and,

(01:24:26):
it's it's an experiment i'm looking forward to see what how people will yeah
yeah use use this you know to something beautiful inshallah and so amazing and
i'll put your kind of contact details on in the show notes as well so people
can follow you but keep us in your doors brother sam i've I've taken up a lot of your time.
JazakAllah khair. Next time you're in Scotland, next time in Scotland,

(01:24:49):
inshallah, we'll have to meet up and we'll call you over, inshallah.
Inshallah. Where are you in Scotland? In Glasgow.
Glasgow, of course. Inshallah. Not far from Denmark. That's not the capital,
right? That's not the capital. No, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is that one. Edinburgh, yes, yes.
Yalla. Take care, inshallah. Thank you so much.
Music.

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#60 Isam B of Outlandish | Global hip-hop star on ‘Aicha’, fame, faith, fatherhood & Palestine

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#60 Isam B of Outlandish | Global hip-hop star on ‘Aicha’, fame, faith, fatherhood & Palestine