If you’re looking for new music that will cast your mind back to the golden-era of hip-hop, you need to know about Da Exiles. A south-London duo who have turned their lives around, converted to Islam after finding God, and put their past experiences into heartfelt, meaningful lyrics that give a perspective of struggle and how far they’ve come.
Bringing a UK sound to a typically US genre of music, the release of ‘Never Stop Believing’ is sure to be the first of many. Da Exiles are made up of cousins, Harb Salam and Mo Striker, both who have demonstrated talent in the arts over much of their lives. Salam, who aside from being an accomplished dog breeder and MMA fighter has also won awards for the films that he has created. Striker, who himself was a successful MMA fighter turned personal trainer, has featured on shows such as Eastenders and The Bill, proving that creativity, expression and hard-work runs in the family.
Appealing to the youth about how to follow the right path, they wanted to ensure that their message could be heard by everyone. This led them to make the decision to create their beats solely from vocals, allowing Muslims and non-Muslims to appreciate their music, message and talent equally. Having dealt with hardship, loss and a lack of direction, the pair are now on the come up, and are determined to cut out all the noise and focus on what really matters – the music. Using their platform, success and work ethic to inspire a generation, the UK hip hop revolution could just be getting started.
Released alongside a music video, it gives the track a visual element that shows you the surroundings and city they grew up in, where they went wrong but also where they succeeded. A real inspiration in every sense, Da Exiles will be hard to ignore.