Chicago, IL · dubstep · electropop

Krewella

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The Yousaf sisters singing live over their own bass drops — pop songwriting welded to heavy electronic music, a decade past 'Alive' and still swinging.

Krewella is the Chicago group built around sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf, who began working together in 2007. The project started as a trio and continued as a duo after producer Kris Trindl departed in 2014.

Their 2013 album Get Wet, which included "Alive" and "Live for the Night," placed them among the more song-driven acts of the American EDM boom, marrying sung pop choruses to dubstep and electro house drops. Later releases have drawn on trap, harder bass styles and South Asian influences reflecting the sisters' Pakistani background. Both sing live over the production, which distinguishes their sets from a straight DJ show.

The group formed in Northbrook, Illinois, after Jahan met Trindl at a high school party and the two recruited her sister Yasmine soon after. The three began posting music on Myspace in 2009, and originally shared matching "6-8-10" tattoos marking June 8, 2010, the day they committed fully to the project.

The 2012 EP Play Hard reached number six on Billboard's Top Dance Albums chart, and its single "Alive" topped the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, crossed onto the Hot 100 and sold over a million copies. Get Wet itself later topped the dance albums chart and reached number eight on the Billboard 200.

Trindl left the group in 2014 amid a lawsuit and countersuit over his exit, and the sisters answered with the single "Say Goodbye" that November. Krewella continued as a duo, releasing "Somewhere to Run" with Pegboard Nerds in 2015 and carrying on with the sung, live-vocal format established on their debut.

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