Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab wins Grammy nomination for Best New Artist
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Pakistani neo-sufi singer Arooj Aftab has been nominated for the Best New Artist as the Grammy nominations for the 2022 edition were unveiled on Tuesday.
Arooj Aftab has become the first Pakistani to be nominated for the Best New Artist, which is described as a “category that recognises an artist whose release achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape”.
But who is Arooj Aftab? According to Billboard magazine, she is a composer, vocalist and producer and has three solo albums to her credit. She was trained at the Berklee College of Music.
Arooj was born in Saudi Arabia and her family moved back to Lahore when she was 11 years old. In a profile published on ArtForum in April 2021, Arooj Aftab shared that she listened to Begum Akhtar, Mariah Carey and Billie Holiday while growing up and taught herself how to play guitar.
It was in Pakistan that Arooj started promoting her music on the internet. Her covers of Amir Zaki’s Mera Pyar and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah helped her establish herself as one of the first “indie” artists in Pakistan.
Yes!!! Our very own @arooj_aftab has made music history by being nominated by the @RecordingAcad for Best New Artist! This is a very proud moment for our nation.
— Hadiqa Kiani (@Hadiqa_Kiani) November 23, 2021
To celebrate, listen to Arooj’s tracks on her YouTube page right here https://t.co/dfPOalSOr2
Arooj’s latest studio album Vulture Prince was released in May through New Amsterdam Records. The album has seven tracks among which Mohabbat and Last Night received acclaim from critics and audiences alike. She has collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Darian Donovan Thomas for Baghon Mein, and Brazilian singer Badi Assad for Diya Hai.
BIG CONGRATS @arooj_aftab for becoming the first ever Pakistani to be nominated for best New artist for the 2022 @RecordingAcad GRAMMY award. This is truly incredible news. So so proud and happy. 🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰
— Fakhr-e-Alam S.I & S.E (@falamb3) November 23, 2021
In July, Arooj Aftab’s Mohabbat was on Barack Obama’s summer playlist as well.
Arooj Aftab has won a number of music awards. Last year, she received her first Latin Grammy in the best rap or hip-hop category. Arooj was honoured with a Student Academy Award for composing music for the short film Bittu as well.
A number of celebrities, including Hadiqa Kiani and Fakhar e Alam, have congratulated Arooj on her achievement and wished her luck.