Change your tune for the weekend with BURO’s weekly playlist brought to you by the ‘IT’ djs and artists in town.
Today, look no further than this super-duper playlist curated to take you on a sonic adventure by Saif Naqbi. So, whether you’re looking to jam out with friends or chill this week-end, hit play and let the music take over. Get ready to be transported to a whole new world of sound and enjoy the ride.
Saif Alnaqbi was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, but his soundtrack was never the conventional Emirati one. While his peers gravitated toward the mainstream, Saif was lost in the distortion of 90s Seattle grunge — Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, sounds that offered chaos, freedom, and comfort in a culture that often felt rigid.
High school was his “B-side” era: flunked classes, shaky social life, and a constant sense of being an outsider in his own city. His lifeline was a beat-up 1994 Fender Jaguar. With that guitar, music became less of a pastime and more of an outlet, a form of survival.
Soon, Saif pulled his younger brothers into the noise, Sultan on drums, Rashed on bass, and late-night jam sessions became their ritual. In a place where grunge wasn’t exactly a crowd favorite, it was rare to find others who shared the obsession. A push from his sister led him to share a Nirvana cover online, a move that felt terrifying at first but turned life-changing when the video went viral. Suddenly, “grunge in a kandora” became his signature.
That momentum birthed Alf Nocturne, a band formed with a childhood friend. The duo caught the eye of Dazed MENA and even appeared in a Vans x Valentino collaboration, where Saif seamlessly blended tradition and rebellion on stage. Eventually, differing visions put the band on pause, “asleep,” as he likes to call it.
Not one to stop creating, Saif started a new chapter with his brothers under the name Static Palm. Their first video, another Nirvana cover, instantly racked up over a million views, and the band is already gearing up to release original music.
While music is his passion project, Saif now balances it with academics, pursuing a degree in computer science and tutoring students in California. Unlike his high school days, he has finally found focus in both fields, proving that sometimes, the outsider writes the most interesting story.
