Born Basim Moujahid of Moroccan heritage, he grew up in Høje-Gladsaxe, a large housing project on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Inspired by British contemporary R&B star Craig David, Basim initially rose to fame as a contestant on season one of the Pop Idol-style Danish reality show X Factor. While he fell short of winning the show, he finished in fourth place and exhibited enough potential to earn a major-label recording contract with Universal Music. Later in 2008 he made his full-length album debut with Alt Det Jeg Ville Have Sagt, which reached the Top Ten of the Danish albums chart and spawned the hit singles "Alt Det Jeg Ville Have Sagt," "Jeg Vil," and "Lad Ikke Solen Gå Ned," the latter featuring Lis Sørensen. ~ Jason Birchmeier