The biggest music-TV-digital series juggernaut – Coke Studio – in its fourteenth year is going for a complete overhaul. With Xulfi helming the upcoming season that is presently on floors for recording, the idea, it seems is to let younger artists shine, in between superstars. It is not necessarily in the form of featured artists but also the people behind the music. With a complete overhaul, there isn’t going to be a typical house-band as we’ve become accustomed to in every song but where there is a house-band required, most names will be newer.
As for featured artists, as Instep revealed earlier, the new season will be shorter with 12-13 songs but will focus on quality as well as introducing new artists to an illustrious roster.
In addition to featuring multiple directors and prominent artists like Atif Aslam, Momina Mustehsan, Veeru Shan, Zain Ali, Soch, Karakoram, Young Stunners and Eva B, more names have emerged. Among these is Faisal Kapadia. Strings may have called it off as music group after 30 years, but it might mean flourishing solo career for not only Bilal Maqsood but for Faisal Kapadia too. According to Instep sources, he is a part of season 14 and will be seen collaborating with Young Stunners. Furthermore, Hasan Raheem and Justin Bibis are also a part of this season.
– This is a developing story.
Umar Riaz on the art of direction
The underrated and well-respected Umar Riaz, who has directed a number of music videos, and was recently nominated for his direction of ‘Sakal Ban’ by Mughal-e-Funk ft. Meesha Shafi (but didn’t win) at the Geo Lux Style Awards 2021 spoke to Instep about his music videos, direction and being trolled. “People thought I was from a TV channel,” he laughingly observed, “That’s why I’m here so more people know.”
As Umar told Instep earlier, ‘Sakal Ban’ was taking its cue from the music and visually incorporated elements from South Asian art, architecture and culture and interpreted them in a futuristic context. When asked why dance was incorporated in the music video especially since the art-form is still seen as something derogatory and therefore possesses the power to alienate conservative audiences, Umar remarked, “After eight music videos, you don’t have that fear. The dance in the music video of ‘Sakal Ban’ was choreographed by Saad Sheikh and was a mixture of traditional moves and more contemporary western dance. Their costumes were very intricately designed.”
Speaking about the art of direction, Umar told Instep, “I’ve already made music videos that were different from the norm at that time, and we knew the norm was very limited in scope and vision when I was getting started. I’ve received the trolling; I’ve received the backlash. I’ve done a lot of music videos for Ali Sethi and had comments like ‘Ali, you should really invest in a professional to make your videos like why are you getting a film student to do it’ and I wasn’t a film student at that time. So with ‘Sakal Ban’ we just went with it.”
Umar reveals that his first music video was ‘Dadra’ for Zeb and Haniya during which he was in fact a film student. “That has a small but dedicated following, so I still get messages from all over the world.”
“For me, with every music video is that firstly it should serve the song and it should serve the artist. But it shouldn’t look like something I’ve done for someone else for another song even. It is not about ego and personality, I just feel like when you start repeating yourself, it may be good for branding but it’s not good for art. What makes me excited is if we’re doing something new and it makes the process of filmmaking, which is grueling for anyone who does it, much more engaging, and it makes us passionate about what we do.”
On a parting note, the director revealed that he isn’t doing music videos at present and is busy with another project. –Photograph by Greg Scaffidi
Hasan Raheem drops live set in
collaboration with KCR
Since his breakthrough with ‘Aisay Kaisay’ ft. Abdullah Kasumbi, Hasan Raheem, singer and songwriter has remained active. Even in times of a global pandemic, Hasan has continued to collaborate and release music. Among them are songs such as ‘Khayal’ ft. Abdullah Kasumbi as well as ‘Saada’, ‘Joona’, ‘Since Eid’, ‘Paisa’ with Talal Qureshi, ‘Khona Tha’ with Maanu, ‘Aarzu’, ‘Narzo and ‘Pukaar’. After dropping the single ‘Adjust’ ft. Abdullah Kasumbi, Hasan confirmed it is the final song from an EP called She.
For growing fans, Hasan hasn’t dropped the ball and is still playing music in one form or another. Just last month, Hasan Raheem ft. Abdullah Kasumbi collaborated with Karachi Community Radio (KCR) for a live set. The set included a mix of older and newer tracks including ‘Khayal’, ‘Darr’, ‘Since Eid’, ‘Joona’, and the big hitter, ‘Aisay Kaisay’. It is available on his YouTube page. We’re not surprised by the growing fan following of Hasan Raheem given how terrific his songs have been. He is also the recipient of PISA Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award for 2020, a recognition that he deserves.
As Hasan’s YouTube page revealed, the KCR set had a larger purpose. This was a fundraising effort, “where 100 [percent] of the ticket sales went towards Indigenous communities through The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada (Caring Society). The Caring Society works to ensure the safety and well-being of First Nations youth and their families through education initiatives, public policy campaigns and providing quality resources to support communities. As settlers on Turtle Island, we believe that we must educate ourselves, decolonize our own spaces, and work proactively to be better allies with Indigenous peoples who are continuously facing discrimination and brutality at the hands of the colonial Canadian state.”
With Hasan Raheem also making his Coke Studio debut this year, it will be interesting to see how and what he brings to the platform as it changes hands from previous producer Rohail Hyatt to present producer Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan aka, Xulfi.