Arooj Aftab is a Pakistani singer and musician. She works mainly in the minimalist, jazz and neo-sufi idioms. Hailing from Lahore, Arooj Aftab was born on 11th March, 1985. In the early days, she taught herself to play the guitar and started developing her voice through deep listening to various musicians such as Begum Akhtar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Billie Holiday, and Mariah Carey. In the early 2000s, Aftab was one of the first musicians to use the internet to promote her music in Pakistan.
Aftab moved to the United States in 2005, earned a degree in Music Production and Engineering and Jazz Composition at the Berklee College of Music. She moved to New York in 2009 and has lived there since. Her sound is heavily inspired by classical music, such as ghazal. She grew up listening to artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and American singer Jeff Buckley.
She has a vast portfolio of work and a no. of achievements. Her song “Mohabbat” from the album “Vulture Prince” made it to the list of ex- Us president Barack Obama’s 2021 summer playlist.
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Many celebrities congratulated her and wished her best of luck.
What fantastic news.
Congratulations, @arooj_aftab! https://t.co/TLk8gM1rgy— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 23, 2021
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 (@falamb3) November 23, 2021
Singer Meesha Shafi also shared congratulatory messages on her Instagram stories.
We, at The Viral Cat congratulates Arooj Aftab on such a big achievement and to make Pakistan proud.