Outlandish

First striking up a rapport in their early teens at their local youth club, multicultural hip-hop trio Outlandish emerged from the Copenhagen suburb of Brøndby Strand in 1997 with their BMG-signed debut single, “Pacific to Pacific”. Penned with Amnesty International in mind, the track served as an early indication of the socially conscious content to come from the Danish crew, who would go on to address political issues including the Israel-Palestine conflict on stirring tracks like “Look Into My Eyes”. Coming from Moroccan, Pakistani and Cuban-Honduran families respectively, Waqas Ali Qadri, Isam Bachiri and Lenny Martinez ensured that their music encapsulated their varied walks of life, with several of their biggest hits making use of multiple languages. The group’s debut album, Outland’s Official, landed in 2000 to generally positive reviews. Its follow-up, 2002’s Bread & Barrels of Water, marked their breakthrough, topping the national charts and spawning two hit singles in the Khaled cover “Aïcha” – which reached #1 in Germany – and “Guantanamo”. Continuing to sustain their popularity at home, the group went platinum with their third LP, 2005’s Closer Than Veins, before taking some time out to focus on their solo careers. They returned with two further albums, Sound of a Rebel (2009) and Warrior // Worrier (2012), before announcing that they’d parted ways in 2017. However, Martinez and Qadri soon reunited under the Outlandish alias, releasing their comeback single “Let It Go” in 2019 and a string of new offerings including “Root For You” and “Higher” in 2020.