Sufi rock | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Early 1990s, Pakistan and Turkey |
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Folk rock | |
2024 in sufi rock |
Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic Sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "Sufi rock" was coined in 1993 by writer Nadeem F. Paracha to define the Pakistani band Junoon, who pioneered the process of fusing conventional rock music with folk Sufi music and imagery. [1] [2] [3]
It is mostly based on the poetry of famous sufi poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah and even Kabir and is mostly sung in languages such as Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, Persian and Turkish.[ citation needed ]
The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and modern-day Western popular music influences. With these multiple influences, a distinctive Pakistani music has emerged.
Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned her many accolades, and she has been dubbed as the 'Queen of Sufi music'.
Vital Signs were a Pakistani pop and rock band formed in Rawalpindi in 1986 by two Peshawar University students. After their formation, they soon became Pakistan's first and most commercially successful as well as critically acclaimed act. The band's popular lineup consisted of keyboardist Rohail Hyatt, bassist Shahzad Hasan, guitarist Nusrat Hussain and vocalist Junaid Jamshed. Rooted in Rawalpindi with some influence from Western music during the conservative regime of President Zia-ul-Haq, the Vital Signs utilizes several genres, ranging from pop music to rock, and often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the early 1990s, they came to be perceived by many Pakistani fans and country's cultural observers as a "promising new era of cultural revival". Their enormous popularity significantly opened a new wave of music and a modern chapter in the history of Pakistan.
The Culture of Pakistan is based in the Indo-Persian cultural matrix that constitutes a foundation plank of South Asian Muslim identity. The region has formed a distinct cultural unit within the main cultural complex of South Asia, Middle East and Central Asia. There are differences in culture among the different ethnic groups in matters such as dress, food, and religion, especially where pre-Islamic customs differ from Islamic practices.
Filmi pop is a term first coined by Pakistani music journalist, Ali Tim in 1990 but made famous by the country's most influential pop critic, Nadeem F. Paracha. In 1966, a talented young playback singer Ahmed Rushdi sang the first South Asian pop song ‘Ko Ko Korina’" for the film Armaan. Composed by Sohail Rana, the song was a blend of 1960s bubblegum pop, rock and roll twist music and Pakistani film music. This genre would later be termed as filmi pop. Paired with Runa Laila, the singer is considered the pioneering father of pop music, mostly hip-hop and disco, in South Asia.
Chowk.com was a website with a focus on the current affairs, politics and cultural aspects of India and Pakistan. Its stated goal is to provoke readers go beyond soundbites and uncover the truth, however uncomfortable. It was also a magazine that aimed to promote discourse between people of the subcontinent on various issues which affected their lives. The site appeared to become stale in March 2012.
Ali Azmat Butt is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the lead singer for the influential Sufi rock band Junoon and for his subsequent solo career later followed by a career as an actor as well.
Atish Raj, was an industrial and avant-garde Pakistani rock band formed and fronted by Pakistani music journalist and writer, Nadeem F. Paracha.
Paracha or Piracha, also known as Peracha, Piracha ,Pracha, and Paracha, is a family name in India and Pakistan, most common in the Punjab region.
Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.
Saieen Zahoor Ahmed or Ali Saain Shafiu is a leading Punjabi Sufi musician from Pakistan. He has spent most of his life singing in Sufi shrines, and didn't produce a record until 2006, when he was nominated for the BBC World Music awards based on word of mouth.
Pakistani rock is a variety of rock music that is largely produced in Pakistan. Pakistani rock incorporates elements of both British–American rock and Pakistani classical music.
Pakistani popular music or shortly Pakistani pop music refers to popular music forms in Pakistan. Pakistani pop is a mixture of traditional Pakistani classical music and western influences of jazz, rock and roll, hip hop and disco sung in various languages of Pakistan, including Urdu. The popularity of music is based on the individual sales of a single, viewership of its music video or the singer's album chart positions. Apart from within Pakistan, Pakistani pop music has also achieved an influential following and popularity in neighboring countries and is listened by members of the Pakistani diaspora, especially in the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Music '89 was the first ever all pop music stage-show to be aired on Pakistan TV.
Shaukat Ali, also known as Shaukat Ali Khan, was a Pakistani folk singer.
The Muhajir people are Muslim immigrants of various ethnic groups and regional origins, and their descendants, who migrated from various regions of India after the Partition of India to settle in the newly independent state of Pakistan. The community includes those immigrants' descendants, most of whom are settled in Karachi and other parts of urban Sindh. The Muhajir community also includes stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who migrated to Pakistan after 1971 following the secession of East Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War.
"Bulleya" is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released in 1999. It is the first track from the band's fifth album, Parvaaz (1999), recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London and released on EMI Records. The song is a famous kafi written by the sufi saint Bulleh Shah. Bulleh Shah is famous for his spiritual and metaphysical poetry, and Bullah Ki Jaana is one of his well-known poems. The song is composed and produced by lead guitarist and founder of the band Salman Ahmad. It is the lead single on the album, the song uses blending of rock guitars and bluesy vocals with eastern elements like the use of tablas, raga-inspired melodies and traditional Pakistani folk music.
Punjabis are the majority ethnic group in Pakistan. They celebrate a number of religious and cultural festivals:
Nadeem Farooq Paracha, also known as NFP, is a Pakistani journalist, author, cultural critic, satirist and historian. He is a columnist for Pakistan's largest English-language daily Dawn.