By Maheen Sabeeh
Ready, set, go
It must feel good to be Atif Aslam right now. The middle-class boy, whose ascension to the greatest heights in music is now a fable that has endeared him to many, is still doing something right. His popularity within the country and beyond is growing since he made his debut in late 2003 with ‘Aadat’. It would be a fair assessment to observe that he is the soundtrack of many lives across South Asia including and especially Pakistan.
As Spotify unfolded its year-end list, Wrapped 2022, of the most popular artists, songs and so on, Atif Aslam emerged on top of the table as the most streamed local artists in Pakistan. He is also ranked fifth in the category of most streamed artists in Pakistan. The category features AP Dhillon, Arijit Singh and Pritam respectively – as the top three artists.
Before moving onto other artists and lists, it is wise to add that Atif Aslam was the most streamed local artist in 2021 and was among the top 5 most streamed artists in Pakistan in 2021, coming at number four with Arijit Singh, Pritam and BTS being the top 3 artists, respectively and The Weeknd sitting happily on the fifth position.
Beyond Atif Aslam’s consecutive success, these wrapped lists can help us in understanding what music is appealing to the audience and how taste is changing. To that end, the most streamed local artists in Pakistan in 2022 – apart from Atif Aslam - included Talha Anjum, Abdul Hannan, Young Stunners, Talhah Yunus, Hasan Raheem, Rovalio, Asim Azhar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ali Sethi, respectively.
Among most streamed Pakistani songs in 2022, ‘Pasoori’ by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill from Coke Studio 14, still weaving its magic emerged as number one track for 2022 and isn’t the only song from the music series to make the list.
Other songs in the category comprised of ‘Bikhra’ by Abdul Hannan & Rovalio, ‘Iraaday’ by Abdul Hannan & Rovalio, ‘Peechay Hutt’ by Hasan Raheem, Justin Bibis & Talal Quershi, ‘Kana Yaari’ by Kaifi Khalil, Eva B and Wahab Bugti, ‘Tu Jhoom’ by Abida Parveen & Naseebo Lal, ‘Ik Lamha’ by Azaan Sami Khan, ‘Kahani Suno 2.0’ by Kaifi Khalil, ‘Phir Milenge’ by Faisal Kapadia & Young Stunners, and ‘Agency’ by Rap Demon, Talha Anjum and Umair.
‘Most streamed songs in Pakistan’ is indication of how some artists from 2021 continue to be as popular in 2022 with new additions as well.
Apart from the ‘Pasoori’ phenomenon from Coke Studio 14 on number one, other songs in the list were ‘Excuses’ by AP Dhillon & Gurinder Gill, ‘Bikhra’ by Abdul Hannan & Rovalio, ‘Iraaday’ by Abdul Hannan & Rovalio, ‘No Love’ by Shubh,‘DESIRES’ by AP Dhillon & Gurinder Gill, ‘Tu Aake Dekhle’ by King, ‘Insane’ by AP Dhillon, Shinda Kahlon & Gurinder Gill,‘295’ by Sidhu Moose Wala and ‘Summer High’ by AP Dhillon.
‘Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation’
– ‘Formation’ by Beyonce
If you’re wondering whatever happened to the women artists in and of this country, who are quite clearly missing from these lists, so are we. However, this is indicative of a larger narrative as well as the true success of Coke Studio 14.
In the collection of most streamed Pakistani songs, women artists who made the cut were related to Coke Studio 14 collaborations such as Shae Gill for ‘Pasoori’, Justin Bibis for ‘Peechay Hutt’, Eva B for ‘Kana Yaari’ and the iconic Abida Parveen-Naseebo Lal for from ‘Tu Jhoom’ as part of the respective collaborations.
There is one list that does indicate some demand for women artists on Spotify. Under the category of ‘top most streamed local women artists’, the top 5 who did emerge as winners included Shae Gill, Momina Muste-hsan, Abida Parveen, Aima Baig and Naseebo Lal, respectively.
As Spotify wraps up 2022, a nod should be given to Spotify’s EQUAL Pakistan initiative. It pays special attention to a single woman artist each month including featuring them on a digital billboard at Times Square, NYC as part of it.
Since EQUAL launched with the notion of promoting women artists from and of the country, artists such as Hadiqa Kiani, Nazia Hassan, Momina Mustehsan, Arooj Aftab, Mehak Ali, Zoha Zuberi, Eva B, Natasha Noorani have dazzled with Shae Gill as the ambassador for the month of December 2022. The initiative is, frankly speaking, a mix of seasoned artists, super popular names, and relatively newer names.
2022 was not just about lists. Spotify launched another initiative called RADAR that tells the story of an artist as part of a short documentary with Hasan Raheem presented as the first artist (who also got a billboard at Times Square, NYC).
As for the fresh, emerging artists who conquered the year, Abdul Hannan is indie music’s favourite child this year. Among the topmost streamed local artists, the indie artist joins an interesting list which includes Hasan Raheem and Kaifi Khalil.