Shaheer Ahmed
Who doesn’t remember Purani jeans and zalim nazroon se? Ali Haider has ruled our hearts for two decades. He took a break in the 2010s. He is back with his new album, Tum Hi Tou Ho. The teaser of his first song from the album has been released. We are excited to listen to his songs.
Ali Haider has a dozen famous songs under his name. Famous for Purani Jeans, his other songs include Tera Naam Liya tou, Chandni Raat, Dil ki Baatein, etc. He had moved to Houston in 2013. He performed in Coke Studio in 2015, where he covered Jia Kare Dhak Dhak from his album Sandaisa (1993).
“Something good has been happening in the Pakistani music in every era. There was a time when people were obsessed with pop duo Nazia and Zohaib Hassan, then there came the era of Vital Signs and Junoon. Moving forward, we witnessed people going gaga over Ali Zafar and Atif Aslam. And today, we have these new artists garnering worldwide recognition from Coke Studio. Everyone loves them. If you put aside the nitty-gritties, Pakistani music has always made its mark.”
He also added, “That was a different time. Now the style of music has changed and so have listeners’ preferences. Back in the day, artists laid emphasis on making everlasting melodies. A lot of work went into making songs that would be remembered forever. Now, the focus is on making music that is instantly popular. The songs are shorter and their impact is short-lived.”
Commenting on the new singers, he said, “People are looking for conveniences.” It’s like people don’t want to work hard on new songs anymore. They either pick up a folk tune, remix a famous song or pick up somebody else’s song and start working with it. That’s why after four to six months, no one remembers those tracks.”
He said that the music earlier had a different effect on the fans, “Artists were also cover boys. We made music and videos that had a slow-burn effect. We didn’t go viral, but our work was remembered.”
We hope that he lives up to our expectations.
