Isam B

Born Isam Bachiri Azouaoui on August 1, 1977, in Copenhagen, MC and vocalist Isam B spent his childhood just outside the capital in Brøndby Strand as one-third of the multicultural Danish rap group Outlandish. Even as a child he gravitated toward American hip-hop, yet the Moroccan sounds carried by his parents remained impossible to overlook. He first attended the Islands-Brygge School, focusing on mathematics, then enrolled at Odense University to pursue a Cand. Negot. degree blending humanities and social sciences. Ultimately he abandoned those studies to pursue music, joining forces with Lenny Martinez and Waqas Qadri in 1997 to establish Outlandish. Drawing on their varied musical traditions and cultural roots, the three created an eclectic sound that quickly placed them among Denmark’s most successful rap acts, if not the leading one, with early releases such as the 2000 debut Outland’s Official and the 2002 follow-up Bread & Barrels of Water both achieving strong sales. Isam B released his debut solo project, the fully Danish-language Institution, in 2007. Despite repeatedly rejecting speculation about the group’s future, he appeared alone on the Roskilde Festival stage the following year.