Outlandish

Outlandish is a Danish hip-hop group formed in 1997 in Brøndby Strand; today it is Waqas Ali Qadri and Lenny Martinez. ^{1 2} Its first line-up had three members: Isam Bachiri and Waqas Ali Qadri, described in the article as Muslims of Moroccan and Pakistani origin, and Lenny Martinez, a Catholic of Cuban and Honduran descent; the article says all three are religious. ¹

Their first single, 'Pacific to Pacific', was used for an Amnesty International charity event, and 'Saturday Night' went into the soundtrack of a Danish film. ¹ The lyrics of 'Look into My Eyes' are based on a poem written in her teens by the Palestinian Gihad Ali; its video retells Little Red Riding Hood with an Israeli soldier as the wolf and a Palestinian girl in a keffiyeh. ¹ Their second album, Bread & Barrels of Water (2002), brought their version of Khaled's 'Aïcha' with added English lyrics and 'Guantanamo', which made an impression on the European charts. ¹ Closer Than Veins (2005), Sound of a Rebel (11 May 2009) and Warrior // Worrier (2012) followed. ¹

The group supported Sami Yusuf with other nasheed artists at the "Concert for Peace in Darfur" at Wembley Arena in 2007, raising money for victims' families; it took part in Islamic Relief's Evening of Inspiration concerts from 2006, including 2008 with Raihan; and it performed 'Look into My Eyes' at a conference on Islamophobia in Copenhagen in May 2006. ¹ Isam Bachiri features on 'Still Strong' on Native Deen's album Not Afraid to Stand Alone. ¹

In 2006 the tabloid BT reported that the two Muslim members had the Norwegian singer Herborg Kråkevik moved to another spot on stage in a television programme because of her bare shoulders. The head of the Danish People's Party youth wing and the president of the Danish Women's Society criticised it; the Danish Broadcasting Corporation said it had changed nothing in the programme for the group; the singer said the matter had been solved; and the group issued a statement distancing itself from BT's accusations. ¹ In 2007 the same paper wrote that two members had performed for "extreme Islamists" at the Reviving the Islamic Spirit convention in Canada; the group denied it, calling the event a peaceful convention for integration and coexistence at which the American rabbi Michael Lerner was an honoured guest, and Associate Professor Torben Ruberg Rasmussen of the University of Southern Denmark backed them. ¹ The museum gives each side's words, attributed, with no verdict.

The group disbanded in 2017 so that each member could pursue his own projects; in 2019 Waqas and Lenny revived it as a duo while Isam continued solo, and it released the album The Cornershop Carnival and the EP Alabas in 2023. ¹

• English Wikipedia, 'Outlandish', revision 1382307458 of 27 October 2026, citing Jyllands-Posten, Kristeligt Dagblad, BT, TV 2, Gaffa, DR and Arab News. ¹
• Wikidata item Q586885. ²