Outlandish: The Rebels Return

Danish hip-hop band Outlandish might have taken four years to return with new music but they don’t think it’s unusual. “We never really left. We have developed as human beings and as artists. It’s the natural way of doing things,” says vocalist Isam Bachiri over the phone from Denmark. The band recently released their new single “My Old Man.”

Formed in 1997, the trio ”“ which also comprises Waqas Ali Qadri and Lenny Martinez ”“ have hits like “Aicha” (Bread & Barrels Of Water, 2002) and “Callin U” (Closer Than Veins, 2005) to their name. In an exclusive interview with ROLLING STONE India, Bachiri, Qadri and Martinez talk about the emotional journey that led to the making of “My Old Man” and evolving as artists.

Outlandish has returned to the music scene after four years. There is a transformation both in terms of music and even your look. What led to this change?

Isam Bachiri (IB): The thing is that, you don’t really stand still. You always develop as a human being and as an artist. That’s the part of life, I guess. But I think Lenny still looks the same. So yeah, I think we develop as human beings and as artists. We’ve always been very inspired by our everyday lives. So that’s what we do lately. It’s the natural way of doing things.

Tell us more about “My Old Man.”

Waqas Qadri (WQ): “My Old Man” is kind of a tribute to fatherhood”¦ This track was an idea that Lenny came up with. He was doing this song which actually, I think at some level was about his mother, because he grew up without a father. Isam and I came in and heard the song, we just loved it. We contributed to it and it became this song about fatherhood. People who are there in your life mean something to you. But for some of us, the relationship between father and son is complex. It is a very simple relationship if you look at it. But there are so many layers to the whole father-son relationship.

Your fifth album Warrior//Worrier featured a bunch of rebellious tracks, while your latest single “My Old Man” is more emotional and personal. Do you ever fear that the audience won’t accept your music?

Lenny Martinez (LM): No, we don’t do music for the audience to accept. Music is a part of our everyday lives and how we develop as human beings. First of all, the three of us have to really like what we’re doing. We create music because we are good at it. So that’s what we do. Luckily, people do enjoy our music and we don’t give up. We’re privileged and happy about it.

Can fans expect the release of a sixth album after this single?

WQ: Yeah we would love to and we’re working on it. As soon as we have something more we’ll happily put something else out there. So look out for it!

The lyrical video of “My Old Man” is high on nostalgia and is in contrast to your typical style. What prompted this idea?

LM: We wanted to do something special and unique. The album art for the song was taken by camera that is 150 years old. We found this photographer called Jan Grarup, who was actually a war photographer. He bought this camera from India. He took this picture so we looked like really old versions of ourselves and that sparked the idea of taking a lot of pictures from our parents’ photo albums and turn it into a collage. So we put it out on this huge table like a timeline, a journey. How our parents grew old, how they came to Denmark, had children and now their children are grown up. Now we have children ourselves. So it’s like a whole journey that you embark on, which is accompanied with the lyrics of the song. It’s pretty significant and important for the message of the song.

Although hip-hop music is constantly changing, it has often been characterized by lyrics and music videos that celebrate hedonism and to some extent what some might call obscenity. As people who have been in the scene, do you believe that artists carry the responsibility to create a positive influence on the youth?

LM: I think it’s very personal what you want to do with your music. Some people just like to sing songs and make people feel good at that moment. Some others, they like to address other issues. For us, music is a way to express our everyday lives. It’s always been a very down-to-earth, human message, the way we are. If we were doing music for the sake of it, I don’t think we would be good at it”¦ For us, it is very important to have something positive or put something out there that touches people and make them feel something or get them to maybe think about stuff.

What is it that Outlandish would like to inspire in their fans?

WQ: Every human being wants to inspire, but that’s not why we play music”¦ We can talk about a lot of personal issues in our songs, and if that can help spark something in the fans, or if they can use what we are saying to better themselves, we would be privileged and that’s a beautiful thing.

 

Watch the video for Outlandish’s latest single “My Old Man”