| W |
hen Spotify selected Meesha Shafi as its EQUAL Pakistan Ambassador, the timing was perfect. The singer, songwriter, producer and actor—who had built a strong identity over the last decade—was releasing her debut album, Khinay Ko (To Bloom), after a two-year hiatus from the music scene. The album dropped in mid-April, and Spotify made the announcement at the same time. With a bevy of songs to her credit, she could have made a record with three new songs and filled the rest with past originals. But Meesha flipped the rules of mainstream and created an album from scratch.
Meesha Shafi is not new to the music scene.
From her early days as part of the music group Overload—which she joined after the band had released its instrumental debut album—to her stints on Coke Studio under multiple producers (Rohail Hyatt, Strings, Zulfiqar ‘Jabbar’ Khan), a three-year run on the resurrected Pepsi Battle of the Bands, and two major appearances on Velo Sound Station (in its first and second seasons), Meesha Shafi has became one of music’s brightest stars.
Branded shows may have given her visibility, but after those early years, she used these platforms to give listeners several original tracks, including ‘Mein’, ‘Leela’, ‘Amrit’, ‘Saranjaam’, and ‘Muaziz Saarif.
Her non-branded originals, including ‘Hot Mango Chutney Sauce’, ‘Rajkumari’ and indie collaborations such as ‘Magenta Cyan’ with Abdullah Siddiqui and ‘Sakal Ban’ with Mughal-e-Funk further cemented her position as an artist to root for.
Shafi also experimented with original soundtracks in selective fashion such as doing a song for Moor and for Wakhri—two diametrically opposite feature films.
Her top tracks on Spotify, ‘Alif Allah’, ‘Muaziz Saarif’ and ‘Aaya Laariye’, are “crowd favourites” according to figures released by the streaming giant Spotify. “Notably, 38 per cent of her audience comprises Generation Z listeners, reflecting her broad appeal across age groups.”
“The things we create—the risks we take, the truths we share—have a life beyond us, over the ages across binaries. For whatever small part I play in contributing to the infinite pool of human expression, I am grateful to this programme for elevating my work and that of so many women alongside me.” –Meesha Shafi
In other words, this recognition from EQUAL Pakistan was long overdue.
Now as she shines brightly on a Spotify digital billboard in Times Square in the heart of New York City (NYC), Meesha Shafi is grateful to be included.
Acknowledging this recognition, she said, “The things we create—the risks we take, the truths we share—have a life beyond us, over the ages across binaries. For whatever small part I play in contributing to the infinite pool of human expression, I am grateful to this programme for elevating my work and that of so many women alongside me.”
“Meesha Shafi personifies the spirit of EQUAL Pakistan, breaking barriers and setting new standards in the music industry,” said Rutaba Yaqub, Artist & Label Partnerships Manager at Spotify for Pakistan and UAE, expressing enthusiasm about Meesha’s ambassadorship.
“Her vocal command, artistic depth and the ability to seam-lessly blend contemporary sounds with traditional influences has earned her a loyal, global audience.
Her strong presence across major streaming markets like Pakistan, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada speaks volumes about the universal appeal of her sound,” she added.
-Watch this space for an exten-sive review of Meesha Shafi’s debut album, Khilnay Ko, which is up for streaming on Spotify.