Aruj Aftab is a Brooklyn-based Pakistani singer and composer, best known for his music album ‘Vulture Prince’, which consists of songs containing Urdu poetry with English lyrics.
Wiki/Biography
Arooz Aftab was born on Monday 11 March 1985 (age 37 years; as in 2022) in Saudi Arabia. Born to Pakistani immigrant parents, Aftab grew up creating her own tunes at a very young age. In an interview he said,
The earliest I remember when I was probably 9 or 10 years old was making up my own tunes and singing them around the house or for guests… I’ve been surrounded by a lot of music from a very young age, and I think what’s interesting to me now is that I never thought it was unusual to make your own music all the time.
At the age of 10, Aftab and his family returned to his hometown, Lahore, Pakistan, where he spent his adolescence. During his teenage years, Aftab taught himself to play the guitar while developing his singing skills. He first took formal musical training when he received a scholarship for an online course by the Berklee School of Music, Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 19, she moved to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music, where she earned degrees in music production and engineering and jazz composition.
Arooz Aftab performing at the Berklee Encore Gala in 2008
Family
There is not much information about his parents. Arooz Aftab has two brothers. His brother, Gauhar Aftab, is the CEO of the Foundation for Youth Employment Pakistan.
Arooz Aftab with his family
While she was working on the music album “Vulture Prince”, her younger brother Maher died. In an interview, he revealed that he dedicated this album to his brother. He said sadly,
When I was dedicating the album to my younger brother, I didn’t realize that I would have to talk about him again and again.
Arooz Aftab’s brother, Maher Aftab
Religion
He was born in a Muslim family in Saudi Arabia.
livelihood
Aftab began his musical journey in the late 1990s and early 2000s when he used the internet as a platform to release his music. He spearheaded the Pakistani indie scene with his two viral productions “Hallelujah” and “Mera Pyaar”. At the time, the infrastructure for independent music in Pakistan was unclear and Western online platforms were inaccessible to Aftab. His songs, initially shared via email, later encouraged the younger generation of artists to create and release their own music independently. By the time she left for Berklee, Aftab had already developed a loyal fan base in Pakistan. In 2010, Aftab moved to New York, where he established his music career. He began editing and scoring films, meanwhile releasing his own music. Subsequently, he began composing music for the film ‘Bittu’ (2020), which won the Student Academy Award (2020).
He also served as an additional editor for the Emmy Award-winning documentary ‘Armed with Faith’ (2017), which earned him a News & Documentary Emmy Award (2018).
Arooz Aftab’s News and Documentary Emmy Award (2018) for his work as an additional editor for the film ‘Armed with Faith’ (2017)
During her stints at American music channels MTV and Vice, where she oversaw the music, sound and video departments, she became interested in Sufi music after hearing the thumri of renowned Indian singer Begum Akhtar. In April 2011, Aftab was included in the crowdsourced list “100 Musicians Under 40” launched by American radio stations NPR (National Public Radio) and WQXR-FM’s Q2. In 2013, he served as music director for Cary McClelland’s film ‘Without Shepherds’. Subsequently, he composed and sang for the albums ‘The Julius Eastman Memory Depot’ in 2013 and 2017 for Tell & Tone Records. His debut music album, Bird Under Water (2014), was released independently. Critical acclaim for the album increased when Financial Times journalist David Honigman gave it four out of five stars in March 2015. In July 2018, the song “Lullaby” from the album was ranked 150th on NPR’s “200” list. The greatest songs of women of the 21st century.”
In the album, he interpreted the qawwali “Man Kunto Maula”, composed by the thirteenth century Sufi polymath Hazrat Amir Khusro. She has lent her voice to the title song “Insaaf” for the Indian film ‘Talwar’ (2015) and the song “Raske Bhare Tore Nain” for the Pakistani film ‘Dobaara Phir Se’ (2016).
Song ‘Insaaf’ from the movie Talwar (2015)
In early 2017, she met pianist, composer and MacArthur Fellowship grant recipient Vijay Iyer during the Ecstatic Music Festival in New York. Backstage, before their performance, Aftab and Iyer spontaneously composed some music on the spot. The pair have been working together since then and have even recorded an album together. In 2017, Aftab was working in the video production department of Condé Nast. On June 12, 2018, their second album ‘Siren Islands’ was released under the New Amsterdam Records label.
Highly appreciated by audiences, ‘Siren Islands’ was included in NPR’s “Our Favorite Electronic & Dance Music of 2018” list. The album’s crowd-pulling song “Island No. 2” was listed on The New York Times’ “25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2018” list. In 2020, he lent his voice to Residente’s Latin Grammy Award-winning song “Antes que el Mundo se Acabe”, for which he received a Latin Grammy in the Best Rap/Hip-Hop category.
On April 23, 2021, Aftab’s third studio album, ‘Vulture Prince’, was released under the New Amsterdam Records label.
The chartbuster song “Mohabbat” from his album ‘Vulture Prince’ earned him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Performance. His eponymous website features Vulture Prince merchandise such as customized T-shirts and Dana El Masri perfume.
Vulture Prince Perfume Oil Created by Dana El Masri
In 2021, he signed with American record label Verve Records. He worked as a composer, sound designer, and implementer for the 2021 noir adventure indie video game ‘Backbone’. In April 2022, she was nominated in the categories of ‘Best Global Music Performance’ and ‘Best New Artist’ for the song “Mohabbat” at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held in Las Vegas. The Grammy nomination for the Urdu singing artist increased Aftab’s fame in the New York music circuit. In 2022, for the Pakistani television program ‘Coke Studio’, she sang the song “Mehram” with Asfar Hussain.
Favorite
- Singers (American): Billie Eilish, Finneas, Billie Holiday, Mariah Carey
- Singers (Indian): Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Begum Akhtar
- Singer (Pakistani): Abida Parveen
- Song: “Family Ties” by American rappers Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar.
Facts/General Knowledge
- The pace of release of the music album “Vulture Prince” was interrupted by two unexpected deaths, one of which was Aftab’s close friend, Annie Ali Khan and the other was his younger brother, Meher.
- For the songs of the music album “Vulture Prince” he referred to the works of famous Sufi poets like Mirza Ghalib, Rumi and Hafiz Hoshiarpuri.
- For inspiration, the Sufi singer turns to her friends in Pakistan, who used to search for historical books of the Mughal Empire containing Urdu poetry in second-hand markets. In an interview he said,
I have friends in Pakistan whom I ask to keep an eye on anything related to the Mughal Empire. Most of the music in the fifties was in Urdu. i basically have minions [laughs], Friends who are journalists or academics who visit libraries in Pakistan.
- In 2015, he got into a dispute with Pakistani music streaming service Patari, which is known as the largest music streaming service in Pakistan. Apparently, the singer accused Patari of streaming songs and licensed music of various artists including herself online for free. Apparently, he claimed that such streaming mechanisms pay royalties to production labels for streaming songs. Therefore, the label kept the lion’s share while the artists only got a percentage per song.
- The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, chose the song “Mohabbat” from the music album Vulture Prince as one of his summer playlist favorites for 2021.
- In an interview, she had revealed that she does not drink cold drinks. Explaining the reason behind quitting soda, he said,
I think I said I don’t drink soda! Coca Cola as a company has done some very questionable and terrible things to farmers in India and Pakistan in the past. That’s why I don’t support him at all.”
- He is a non-vegetarian.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn