After delightfully surprising listeners and industry experts in and across Pakistan and possibly beyond with their first release, ‘The Sibbi Song’, the Patari Tabeer series, returned with its second single this past Wednesday and upon hearing it multiple times, it is obvious that this project is so much more than a one-hit wonder.
MUSICMIX
12-year-old Mohammad Jahangir strikes gold with a cover of the folk classic ‘Chitta Chola’ as the second single is released online.
After delightfully surprising listeners and industry experts in and across Pakistan and possibly beyond with their first release, ‘The Sibbi Song’, the Patari Tabeer series, returned with its second single this past Wednesday and upon hearing it multiple times, it is obvious that this project is so much more than a one-hit wonder.
Featuring 12-year-old child, Mohammad Jahangir, who has been paired up with Abbas Ali Khan, who provides the dark, layered and obscure electronic treatment to the song and plays the role of producer with grace, it’s a substantial effort that is both moving and deeply gratifying. The song in question is called, ‘Chitta Chola‘, a folk classic that will melt your heart because Jahangir has sung with heart and grit.
The prodigious Mohammad Jahangir with music producer Abbas Ali Khan
Furthermore, the story of this young child is as endearing as his voice. “Jahangir used to work as a peon in an office in Sukkur, where he loved to sing out loud all the time. One day, a colleague recorded a video of him singing ‘Chitta Chola‘ and uploaded it online, where it went viral. However, despite Jahangir’s childhood dream of becoming a singer, nothing became of his viral fame. More than a year after that initial video, Patari started working on the Patari Tabeer project and identified Jahangir from his viral video as a talent to be nurtured. The activist and politician Jibran Nasir helped in tracking Jahangir down, which took quite some time. Moreover, all of Jahangir’s family shared one phone, and the constant loadshedding meant they rarely had time to charge it. It took several months to finally get him, and his family, onboard the project,” revealed Patari in a statement, explaining his origin story.
After finding this sweet young boy, Patari, having proven itself as a tech startup that has the best interests of the artists at heart, roped in Abbas Ali Khan to produce the song. This also meant bringing Jahangir to Karachi so he could work with Abbas Ali Khan at his studio. “His family had only once ventured out of Sukkur before. Eventually, Jahangir, his father and brother, and two relatives who had previously been to Karachi all took the journey down to the big city. Once there, they were all excited and overwhelmed, with Jahangir in particular in awe of the sights and sounds. As an untrained singer, Jahangir initially struggled in the studio, but Abbas helped him find his own voice, which carries an ocean of emotion and desire.”
Patari Tabeer, launched with the mission of providing raw and undiscovered talent a chance to showcase their explosive verve by taking them to the studio and pairing them off with accomplished producers, has four more songs planned for release during the month of January as part of the series. Meanwhile, all songs released within this label feature regional languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Balochi, Pashto and Punjabi.
Other artists to feature in the series include a former sanitary worker from Rawalpindi; a singer from Peshawar whose father taught her how to sing; a rapper from Lyari speaking out about the injustices faced by his community; and two nomadic singers from Sindh who are amongst the last of a dying breed of musicians native to the region.
