Sons of Yusuf, a duo of blood brothers Ya'koob and Humble Abdul, started off by making Arab flavored remixes of popular rap hits. On the strength of their 2018 single "One Time" the duo has carved their own path in the music industry and recently formed Astrolabe Records with producer Mike Chav – known for his extensive work with Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu. Their latest effort is the video for the single "People of the Book," a heartwarming piano-driven track that displays storytelling lyrics about the turmoil of their native Kuwait and the Middle East region. The track is produced by Mike Chav who keeps it very sparse while employing a soul-gripping chord movement that is only usurped by emotional lines like “…First opened her eyes to a war / she’s gonna die in a war / so don’t cry anymore…". Joining the brothers on the song is Isam B from Danish hip-hop group Outlandish , who provides a sutnning vocoded chorus in Arabic.
The self-directed sweeping video is filmed at various locations around the globe including holy sites like the Black Stone at Mecca and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. It captures the brothers in search of knowledge through studying and praying with an imam, a priest, and a rabbi. The brothers further explain via email that, "Faith and religion is like water; it’s everywhere but it comes in different colors." Going through life with an open mind, the brothers hope to keep the universal message that we are all one under the sun. "People of the Book" is taken from Sons of Yusuf's debut album, Shaykh the World and features appearances from Jay Electronica, Cyhi the Prynce, Talib Kweli, Shafiq Husayn, and many others.
Get it on Deezer, Apple Music, Spotify, and Soundcloud.
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