Born in Baghdad and raised in VA, Yasir Razak launched nabeel – نبيل‎ in 2022 with debut single ras alsanna – رأس السنة followed by 2 EPs over the years. A tight-knit circle of friends/musicians in the Shenendoah Valley and growing up in an Iraqi household forced Yasir’s hand to what nabeel has become and will be for years to come.

Some words from Yasir about how the project came to being:

“The Nabeel project is a practice in acceptance, discomfort, and in the willingness to explore imperfection and liminality. As children of immigrants, we are told that everything we do needs to be perfect, and often we have a hard time accepting products of our own creation even when they’re quite good. When I started writing these songs, I made a commitment to myself that I would accept these creations as expressions of who I am.

I could wait around forever to perfect my Arabic or to try to think of the perfect way to express my perspective… Or I could just be honest and open and let myself speak. I hope this album encourages other folks caught between cultures to embrace their own unique position and to create wholly unashamed and unabashedly”