Daily Times

Pakistan’s veteran musician Shiraz Uppal breaks silence on his recent controversy after he was said to have claimed that he mentored Atif Aslam and Aima Baig.

Celebrated musician Shiraz Uppal, who was recently seated across actor-host Ahmed Ali Butt, on his podcast, said that he guided A-list performers like Atif Aslam and Aima Baig, to work on their vocals and tonality, as he gauged their potential as singers.

However, his statement was misconstrued and many believed that he claimed to have mentored the two on how to sing. Addressing the controversy during a recent chat show outing, Uppal clarified, “I never said that I taught them how to sing, people misinterpreted it. They are very good singers.”

He continued, “What we actually discussed was that being a music producer and a singer, I know what expression I want from a vocalist for my composition, so I have to guide them regarding that, and the pronunciation of certain words as well as the tone of voice needed. That does not mean I mentored them to sing.”

Notably, Uppal had previously said, “When I made Aima sing Kalabaaz Dil, she didn’t have this tonality. She used to sing Western. So I had to sit her down and teach it to her and she picked up very well. It was only then that she learned that she could sing like this too. When Atif entered the field, his voice was very strong but it lacked expression. He didn’t know how to express words which is very important for playback singing. I counselled him a lot that if there’s a word about love, deliver it in a specific way. He picked it up and implemented that.”