Daily Times

Music, as we all know, is the purest form of art and the most direct expression of the spirit. Most of us music lovers tend to feel and visualize the manifestation of the infinite in the finite forms of creating music, and for this year’s ‘Magical Music’ Round-up, we have collected a few of our favourites to show you what they’ve been up to; post-Pandemic and what they have lined up for us for the year ahead.

We asked all these musicians what they had been up to, words of wisdom and positivity, anything good that came out of the music industry this year post-pandemic, and what they plan to work on in the future to bring us more of that bittersweet symphony!

Let’s tune in to some of this year’s biggest female successes. Here are our top picks:

1. NATASHA BAIG:

A singer and songwriter from Hunza Valley, Natasha sings in various genres-including Sufi Rock (and we love it!)-with her latest hit being the Burushaski language song called ‘Ya Maula’. Baig grew up listening to Abida Parveen as her influence and is known for her jam-packed live performances throughout Pakistan. At present, she is working on releasing her album ‘KHIRAD’-a a tribute to Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his poetry. She believes that as not only a poet but a revolutionary, there isn’t much that people know about him.

“We only know about Allama Iqbal through our history books, and that’s it. After performing ‘Jawab e Shikwa’ in Coke Studio, I got a chance to read his writings and realized we have limited information on his revolutionary work. He is not just a poet; he has a Sufi side to him and was a pure artist.”

Baig has an upcoming concert on 31st December.

2. NIMRA RAFIQ:

Nimra launched her vocals into the music scene with a reality show, at the age of just 14! At 16, she paid a tribute to Alamgir on national television and hasn’t looked back since. Solo gigs, working as a voice-over artist for Turkish dramas and cartoons on various television channels, and working on her originals have been keeping Nimra busy this year. We are waiting to see what this talented female musician has in store for us this year and in the next!

“I’m currently known as Pakistan’s ‘Soprano Vocalist’, because a lot of people believe my high-pitched Sufi songs are difficult to sing, but I’ve been practising that control for a long time. I’ve been recognized as an artist on Coke Studio as a backing and lead vocalist, and due to ‘Umar and Haana’-the Kids show, and Arabic Cartoon Series-I got a lot of recognition-in which I dubbed Umar’s voice! I’m working on releasing my album in 2022-let’s hope it works out as planned.”

Rafiq released ‘Azma’ this year, a song she had worked hard on. Her album was supposed to release in 2021, but due to Covid-related delays, she was unable to release it in time. At present, she is also working for a musical program which will be a collaboration of the UK embassy with different artists from Wales and Pakistan and has an appearance in Season 14 of Coke Studio (we are excited to see what Xulfi has in store for us)!

3. JENAAN HUSSAIN

Jenaan, an artist hailing from Abbottabad who moved to Karachi to pursue a career in music and acting, is also one of the chirpiest voices in K-town! Jenaan moved from theatre to television and gained recognition after ‘Aisay Jiya Jale’ on Hum TV. We have the latest scoop on Jenaan and what she’s up to in terms of music!

“I’m working with ‘Sounds of Kolachi’ as their vocalist, and also working towards creating a program for Pakistani girls who cannot get out of their homes or take music commercially-called ‘Applied Music for Women’-a a course created by Ahmed Shehzad and Ahsan Bari.”

Hussain plans to release two songs in the coming year and believes that the current music industry is going through a revolution. She also advises new artists to ‘invest in their own work’ and not count on different people to do anything for them.

“I made it this far completely on my own-it is really devastating to keep counting on someone else to produce or record for you. It’s important to wake up in the morning and do riyaaz, make your own compositions and write your own lyrics-nobody will work on you if you don’t work on you.”