Shaheer Ahmed
The track that got the globe by storm, Pasoori, gave a whole new recognition to the singer Ali Sethi. Although, he already had a whole fan following in Pakistan, this next step made him known to the world. His mesmerizing vocal skills have gained him a spot in the TIMES100 NEXT list.
Ali expressed his gratitude for the honor on Instagram: “Proud to be included in the 2022 TIME100Next list. This old-world portrait of me and looking pyaar-se at the pre-colonial past.”
The 38-year-old singer’s “Pasoori,” a Coke Studio instant hit that dominated the charts even half a year later, was mentioned in the Time story, but he was placed as an “innovator” rather than an artist on the list of world leaders.
Ali Sethi fans, admirers, and family friends congratulated him for featuring in the ‘Time100 Next’ list. Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani activist, and numerous other famous people praised the singer.
The American news magazine Time releases its TIME100 list annually. The difference between TIME100 and TIME100 Next is that the former is a group of the most influential people in the world and the latter is a group of emerging leaders influencing the world.
The American magazine claims that Ali Sethi’s song Pasoori has received close to 400 million YouTube views and has gone viral worldwide. What’s more impressive is that the song has a substantial fan base in India, which is right next door, despite the escalating hostility between the two countries.
The article continued, “Sethi’s great gift is that he is able to use an ancient form of music from the region, the classical raga, to challenge and expand notions of gender, sexuality, and belonging. “Pasoori” is a virtuoso demonstration of how artists can, in subtle ways, subvert the restrictions imposed upon them by new forms of authoritarianism and intolerance”.
