Born Ismail Yurtseven on July 5, 1978, in Hamm, West Germany, the Turkish Arabesque / pop / folk singer-songwriter is better known by the stage name Ismail YK. Originally a member of sibling band Yurtseven Kardeşler (nicknamed YK), the group performed in Germany, where they still lived. Yurtseven Kardeşler began performing and recording in 1985 but didn’t achieve much success until a breakthrough performance on a German TV show in 1988. Ismail YK joined the band by the time of their 1996 album Bir Tek Sen / Barış Olsun. After several more albums with the group, Ismail YK began a parallel solo career in 2004 with the album Şappur Şuppur, which sold over one million copies. His second solo album, Bombabomba.com (2006), became a best-selling Turkish album. That release was followed by other successful albums including Bas Gaza (2008), Haydi Bastir (2009), Psikopat (2011), and Metropol (2012). After a three-year break, Ismail YK returned with Kıyamet (2015), which included new material and re-recordings of tracks from previous albums. After the release of Tansiyon (2018), he focused on releasing a series of singles including "Ayvayı Yemiş" (2020), "Hadi Ya" (2021), "Tatlı Kız" (2021), "Cehennem" (2022), "Sen Gidemezsin" (2023), “Hey Siri” (2023), and “Sen Herkesten Tatlısın” featuring Başak (2023).
