Sami Yusuf is a British singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist musician of Azerbaijani origin [1]
In 2003 Yusuf released his debut album "Al-Mu`allim" at the age of 23, selling over two million copies. Following the release of his second album "My Ummah" in 2005, Yusuf was heralded as "Islam's Biggest Rock Star" by Time magazine for his success in attracting a relatively young fan base from diverse regions across the world, many of whom were of Muslim backgrounds. Yusuf has sold over seven million albums. In October 2010, following a five-year hiatus, Yusuf’s third official album "Wherever You Are" was launched, manifesting his self-coined genre “Spiritique”. Yusuf is involved in humanitarian initiatives, supporting, among others, Islamic Relief and Save the Children.
An ethnic Azeri born in Tehran, Yusuf was raised in London from the age of three.[2] He initially began composing simple melodies starting at the age of three,[3] and performing on stage for the first time around the age of nine.[4] His “defining moment”[5][6] musically occurred when his father loaned him a book on the basics of the Tombak [Persian instrument]. Upon returning from a tea break, his father found that the young Yusuf had mastered the book that had taken months for his students to finish.[7] As a teenager he was a devotee of classical music and classical icons like Chopin and Mozart, admitting that he listened to Classic FM radio station for hours in a day.[8] He went on training professionally in several other instruments including the santoor, piano, violin, oud, setar, tar, and daf under the guidance of traditional teachers, as well as professional musicians. While producing and demo-recording for another singer, he became aware of his own singing abilities which were further developed by the encouragement of his family. Divided between pursuing a musical career or studying law at King’s College London, Yusuf opted for music while committed to “doing something dignified and respectable”.[8] Though he claimed to having been always spiritual, he reconnected with his Islamic faith through a “religious awakening”[9] at the age of nineteen.
He then set out to share his experience with the other young British Muslims he felt were direly in search of an identity especially post 9/11. Yusuf self-produced and released his debut album “Al-mu’allim” at the age of 23, pioneering an innovative trend other Muslim artist would seek to emulate and promote, termed "Islamic pop".[10]
Meanwhile in the following summer, Yusuf shared his music video “Healing” sung in English and Arabic that was created in cooperation with the KSA-based International Medical Center.[34] It was also listed as another key track by Rolling Stone magazine.[32] In reference to the song’s underlying philosophy of generosity in lines like “Heal and you will be healed/…Give and you will receive/It’s nature’s order”, Yusuf’s wrote on his blog: “I hope it helps, albeit in some small way, in showing that every single one of us can be a healer”.[35] Amidst the torrential monsoons that wreaked havoc in Pakistan and affected 20 million lives in the summer of 2010, he promptly released a charity single entitled “Hear Your Call”, performed in English and Urdu, to raise funds for the displaced Pakistanis in a joint-effort with the UN-sponsored charity organization Save the Children.[36][37] The song was featured on a short film by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA)[38] appealing for renewed donations towards the relief effort. Prompted by the protests and clashes that transpired in Egypt in February 2011, Yusuf released a free track entitled “I’m Your Hope”, dedicating it to the “Shabaab” or youth.[39] The lyrics are in English and Arabic.[40] Sami Yusuf has expressed keen interest on initiating his own “record company to help artists and talents that are not supported” in the near future.[41]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Yusuf
In 2003 Yusuf released his debut album "Al-Mu`allim" at the age of 23, selling over two million copies. Following the release of his second album "My Ummah" in 2005, Yusuf was heralded as "Islam's Biggest Rock Star" by Time magazine for his success in attracting a relatively young fan base from diverse regions across the world, many of whom were of Muslim backgrounds. Yusuf has sold over seven million albums. In October 2010, following a five-year hiatus, Yusuf’s third official album "Wherever You Are" was launched, manifesting his self-coined genre “Spiritique”. Yusuf is involved in humanitarian initiatives, supporting, among others, Islamic Relief and Save the Children.
An ethnic Azeri born in Tehran, Yusuf was raised in London from the age of three.[2] He initially began composing simple melodies starting at the age of three,[3] and performing on stage for the first time around the age of nine.[4] His “defining moment”[5][6] musically occurred when his father loaned him a book on the basics of the Tombak [Persian instrument]. Upon returning from a tea break, his father found that the young Yusuf had mastered the book that had taken months for his students to finish.[7] As a teenager he was a devotee of classical music and classical icons like Chopin and Mozart, admitting that he listened to Classic FM radio station for hours in a day.[8] He went on training professionally in several other instruments including the santoor, piano, violin, oud, setar, tar, and daf under the guidance of traditional teachers, as well as professional musicians. While producing and demo-recording for another singer, he became aware of his own singing abilities which were further developed by the encouragement of his family. Divided between pursuing a musical career or studying law at King’s College London, Yusuf opted for music while committed to “doing something dignified and respectable”.[8] Though he claimed to having been always spiritual, he reconnected with his Islamic faith through a “religious awakening”[9] at the age of nineteen.
He then set out to share his experience with the other young British Muslims he felt were direly in search of an identity especially post 9/11. Yusuf self-produced and released his debut album “Al-mu’allim” at the age of 23, pioneering an innovative trend other Muslim artist would seek to emulate and promote, termed "Islamic pop".[10]
(2003–2004) – Al-Mu'allim
Shortly before traveling to Egypt to study Arabic, Sami Yusuf released his debut album Al-Mu`allim in July 2003, a primarily percussive album comprising eight tracks.[11] The radiant cube and purple background of the album cover symbolized “the light of the Prophetic message illuminating the darkness of the night”.[11] Its feature song, "Al-Mu’allim", became an instant hit in the Middle East, North Africa, and South-East Asia topping the charts in Egypt and Turkey for twelve consecutive weeks, selling over two million copies worldwide.[12] Believing that music can be a "powerful medium to promote ideas and establish dialogue within society”,[13] he coalesced Eastern percussive instrumentation and Western melodies in “Al-Mu’allim” with a focus on the English and Arabic languages. The last track, “Supplication”, was used in the Golden-Globe award-nominated film, “The Kite Runner”.[14] Though the album was described as a “project to define British Muslim identity”[15] in a post 9-11 period — with explicitly religious themes praising the Prophet Mohammad and Allah in songs like “The Creator” and “Ya Mustafa” — it reached the ears of unexpectedly diverse range of listeners, constituting of various nationalities, ages, and races.[11] Redirecting the current of Muslim music through his songs and professionally-produced music videos (“Al-Mu’allim” and “Supplication”), Yusuf had “unintentionally” cultivated grounds for a fresh genre of music coined "Islamic Pop"[10] by setting a new benchmark in the religious music industry. The journal Transnational Broadcasting Studies analyzed the main causes of his success by attributing it to Yusuf’s ability to blend “a religious worldview with a mainstream form of entertainment, and in doing so, [communicating] a personable, accessible expression of the Islamic faith that is in harmony with the modern world and incorporated into the mundane activities of daily life”.[16](2009 – present) – Wherever You Are Pre-Release
In July 2009, Yusuf was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in recognition of his “extraordinary contributions to the field of music” by Roehampton University in southwest London.[28] Earlier in the year, he was selected to serve as the first Global Ambassador of HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser’s (Qatar's First Lady) intitiative, Silatech, which seeks to engage “the public, private and civil society sectors to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to capital and markets for young people”.[29] Ranked in the “Top 500 Influential Muslims of 2009 (and 2010)”, a publication edited by Georgetown University’s John Esposito and Ibrahim Kahlin, Yusuf was described as an “internationally popular British singer-songwriter whose music has revolutionized the nasheed industry. ... He is also known for his extensive involvement in charity work”.[30] Yusuf released his video single, “You Came To Me,” in four languages (English, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) in the summer of 2009.[31] Rolling Stone magazine called the style by which Yusuf sung the track’s lyrics “touching”, listing it as one of the key tracks of the “Wherever You Are” album.[32] SamiYusufOfficial.com announced the release of “Wherever You Are”, Yusuf’s third official album, in March 2010, introducing it as “A renaissance. A Rebirth. A New Beginning”.[33]Meanwhile in the following summer, Yusuf shared his music video “Healing” sung in English and Arabic that was created in cooperation with the KSA-based International Medical Center.[34] It was also listed as another key track by Rolling Stone magazine.[32] In reference to the song’s underlying philosophy of generosity in lines like “Heal and you will be healed/…Give and you will receive/It’s nature’s order”, Yusuf’s wrote on his blog: “I hope it helps, albeit in some small way, in showing that every single one of us can be a healer”.[35] Amidst the torrential monsoons that wreaked havoc in Pakistan and affected 20 million lives in the summer of 2010, he promptly released a charity single entitled “Hear Your Call”, performed in English and Urdu, to raise funds for the displaced Pakistanis in a joint-effort with the UN-sponsored charity organization Save the Children.[36][37] The song was featured on a short film by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA)[38] appealing for renewed donations towards the relief effort. Prompted by the protests and clashes that transpired in Egypt in February 2011, Yusuf released a free track entitled “I’m Your Hope”, dedicating it to the “Shabaab” or youth.[39] The lyrics are in English and Arabic.[40] Sami Yusuf has expressed keen interest on initiating his own “record company to help artists and talents that are not supported” in the near future.[41]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Yusuf
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