Coke Studio, now in its ninth season, and easily the most talked about music show in the country, comes back this summer, which is great news for both the music community and fans. Perhaps the single biggest factor to note this year is that the format has shifted with multiple producers coming onboard.
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In its upcoming ninth season, Coke Studio experiments with multiple producers. Instep has the lowdown on what you should expect.
Coke Studio, now in its ninth season, and easily the most talked about music show in the country, comes back this summer, which is great news for both the music community and fans. Perhaps the single biggest factor to note this year is that the format has shifted with multiple producers coming onboard.
As reported earlier, the late Amjad Sabri - murdered in the violent streets of Karachi this past week – will be making a posthumous appearance on the show, collaborating with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on the qawwali, ‘Aj Rang Hai’. Recorded in May, Sabri had said then about the recording: “About 40 years ago, my father and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan read this kalaam at a dargah in Karachi and 40 years later, Rahat and I are reading it again (on Coke Studio Season 9).”
The late Amjad Sabri will make what is now a posthumous appearance on Coke Studio's upcoming season 9, seen here with executive producers Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of Strings.
While Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia will continue to serve as executive producers and their contribution to the show’s long, inimitable history cannot and should not be diminished, this particular season will have an edge as six producers join the show and bring their respective knowledge to this platform. Ultimately, the show’s not-so-secret weapon is that it truly embraces collaboration, which lies at the heart of creativity and this year that theme has come full circle.
Speaking on the show’s multiple-producer format, Strings said in a PR statement, “We’ve always believed in collaborations because this is how the industry grows. After the monumental response of season 8, we decided to bring onboard six of Pakistan’s leading music directors to be a part of Coke Studio. Our vision since season 7 has been to involve more and more people from our music industry and make this platform a collective dream. When we presented the idea to Coca-Cola, they loved it and were fully supportive. It was a challenging task and our guidance was required throughout the process but today we are extremely satisfied that we took this initiative.”
Singer-songwriter par excellence, Jaffer Ali Zaidi, who has been a part of Coke Studio house-band for several years, and has worked with the show’s earlier producer Rohail Hyatt and with Strings, makes the transition to producer’s chair.
Noori, who remain one of the most popular Coke Studio performers, having been a part of the show in season two and season three, and having produced their last studio record to great aplomb also transition into producer’s chair. Given their past Coke Studio appearances and the success that has followed them and rightly so, we are expecting some fireworks.
The other four producers to feature in this season - Shani Arshad, Shiraz Uppal, Faakhir Mehmood and Shuja Haider – are making their first official entry to Coke Studio but given their own musical legacy and contribution to the music scene in general, this invitation to the show has merit. How they fare, time will tell. For now, we’re keeping an open mind.
The artist line-up, like every year, is a mixture of industry veterans, pop giants, classical wizards, newbies and in that sense, it’s a colorful, worthy list.
Previously featured artists such as Abida Parveen, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sanam Marvi, Saieen Zahoor return as do modern-day music superheroes such as Umair Jaswal, QB, Ali Azmat, Noori, Zeb Bangash, Rachel Viccaji and Meesha Shafi.
Other artists who will make an appearance or more include new entrants like Shilpa Rao, Mehwish Hayat, Momina Mustehsan, Natasha Khan, Ali Khan, Rizwan Butt, Basit, Nirmal Roy and of course the one and only, Amjad Sabri who will continue to live in memory and will be immortalized by his last performance.
