The wait is over! Coke Studio is back with its eleventh consecutive season, spearheaded by none other than Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi. The first track/promo was released and the message is clear and cut. It’s about unity and cultural diversity and yes, that’s how it should be. Music has no boundaries, no race and no religion, and that’s what the first track is about. A beautiful poem of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, ‘Hum Dekheinge‘, which will give you goose bumps from beginning to end. The track features numerous artists, many familiar faces and few new ones. Here are four new additions in Coke Studio which one should look forward too. Lyari Underground Who would have thought that an underground band from Karachi will one day perform on the biggest musical platform of the country? In a country where everyone wants to follow the footsteps of Atif or Rahat, six boys from Karachi decided to go quite the opposite. They formed a rap band in the history of Pakistan. Started from digital music platform Soundcloudand now they will be seen in the Coke Studio, where the greats perform. Young Desi Another rapper, who took the rap world by storm, first featured on two hit songs of Bilal Saeed and then he featured on a Toni Kakkar track, Coca Cola Tu, one of the biggest hits of the year with over 150 million Youtube views. This is not the first time a rapper will feature in Coke Studio. We have seen Bohemia on several occasions, including his acclaimed performance in ‘Paise Da Nashta’ and there is a huge possibility that we might see something similar with Young Desi too, as he’s not short on any of the skills which a world class rapper needs. It’s definitely going to be lit, flow of Young Desi, beat from the best musicians of the country and led by Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi, you just can’t ask for more. Krewella Finally, they are here. People were eagerly waiting for them to perform in Pakistan after the EDM duo cancelled their tour because of security reasons. Imagine how lethal the beat will be when Krewella girls work with the best minds of this business. Simply, cannot wait to watch them perform in Coke Studio. Naghma and Lucky In an independent country which is divided by sects, casts, race and status, Coke Studio is doing its best to build unity and harmony within the society through music. It is the first time we will see transgender people performing on a mega stage like this. Although they are not new to camera as they have been performing for almost 25 years and they have also been taking music classes for a while now as they want to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned singer. This is the best opportunity for them to showcase their talent. It’s simply amazing that a gender which is not even treated as humans in our country will have its representation on the biggest musical stage of the country. Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2018.