Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee Arooj Aftab: 'We’re all trying to prove that we belong here'
Words by Aaryana Sharma
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Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee Arooj Aftab: 'We’re all trying to prove that we belong here' by Aaryana Sharma
Contemporary musician Arooj Aftab brings together culture and connection through her charismatic and compelling vocals. The Pakistani-American singer sat down with Brown History to talk about her influences, South Asian representation, and the music behind her latest album Vulture Prince.
Aftab’s first influence came from her home as her parents played a large role at an early age. She recalls that music was a “really important part of their relationship and our lives.” Growing up in this environment allowed Aftab to “be super immersed in many types of music and especially music discourse”, something she grew to enjoy. But the tables turned when Aftab said she wanted to pursue music as a career. “I think they were extremely horrified when I said that I wanted to create and make music,” Aftab said with a laugh. “We don’t really know what that means in South Asian cultures.” Her love for music eventually won over as she explained how serious music was to her. She reflects that her parent’s initial reaction was well intentioned, as they did acknowledge her creativity, but wishes they had vocalized their support for her choice, admitting she was “lucky that that was actually their vibe.”
Being a South Asian creative in a large city proved difficult. Aftab brought her experience of the immigrant diaspora into music as she talked about the duality of her identity. “When we stay South Asian you know, and then when we go to those spaces there aren’t any Pakistanis there,” she noted referencing the contemporary music industry. She adds that while bringing a different perspective can make her feel unique, it sometimes creates another label for her work. “For me being a post-minimalist jazz whatever the fuck I try to call myself, sometimes I’m like yeah itna naach me ne kar sakti,” or I can’t juggle all this at once. Instead, she creates a free-form blend of orchestra as she integrates her mixed community into her work. Aftab believes that “the music kind of says that as well.” However, this intersection of community and collaboration in music isn’t very prominent in the South Asian industry yet. Aftab reflects on her own position by remarking, “I’m kind of alone, you know?” She explains that many South Asian creatives are interconnected yet isolated.“We’re trying to find community and grounding but we’re all trying to do our own thing, we’re all trying to prove that we belong here.”
We then discussed the more abstract idea of music: her preference of instruments, accompanying hobbies, and the creative process. Aftab admitted that although she has a “deep love with the acoustic guitar”, her foundational instrument, most of the time she “plays many instruments very badly and just enough to put down ideas”. She also admits that she “was good at guitar at one point” but lost touch when she began to focus on vocals. Additionally, she let on that her “creative process” couldn’t be well defined, as it was an organic conglomerate of ideas and experiences that couldn’t be explained in specific words. Instead, Aftab takes inspiration from her imagination, interests, and the internet, frankly stating that “I just look at pictures of animals and oceans, you know? That’s my hobby.” She remarks that she really likes being underwater and she often goes there in her mind.
We transitioned from the abstract influences of her work to the more pressing and natural circumstances. When talking about her current musical influences and the realistic aspect of being a modern day musician, Aftab maintained her casual charm. She told us that the best part of being a musician was being able to pursue music as it grounds and calms her. Aftab says that music “puts all the pieces back together in [her] mind for [her].” But pursuing music comes with the hardships of the financial aspect that accompanies the profession. Aftab identified that the worst part of being a musician was “having to do taxes and deal with the industry itself, which isn’t built in [the musician’s] favor.” She explores this theme in the Vulture Prince, as she narrates that the album reflects “having disdainful feelings for the way that the world operates”. She describes it as “endlessness but also having hope for some reason”. Her inspiration for this specific album came from her habits and interests, as she is “a creature of night and really loves sort of themes of, sort of sad hopefulness.” Vulture Prince allowed her to illustrate the intersection between her interests and influences in a dynamic and poetic medium.
In the Vulture Prince, Aftab structures her songs in a way that emphasizes the importance of her vocals. Aftab describes the reason for the arrangement as to “take little snippets of this poetry from…old poets.” She elaborates, stating “she [uses] lyrics as a tool to sort of just sing”, allowing the words to guide the melody and music of the song. Aftab emphasizes that “the music isn’t meant to surround the vocals, it’s supposed to be like one homogenous storytelling moment.” Aftab also discussed the use of both Urdu and English throughout the album. She explained that songs that have English in them, like Last Night on the Vulture Prince, “serve as kind of a contextualizer for those who don’t understand what [she’s] doing with [the] lyrics.” She adds that “it’s kind of like a favor to non-Urdu speaking listeners even though the point of the record is to transcend language.” The duality in language highlights Aftab’s hyphenated identity and allows her to integrate her culture into her music.
Inspired by musicians Begum Akhtar and Abbie Lincoln, Aftab has promising advice for the next generation of musicians and creatives. “Just do the music that you love and don’t care about anything else,” she emphasizes. “Do it for yourself and then after that do it for others.”
Credits
Aaryana Sharma is a Texas-based student journalist, poet, and author who writes for her high school newspaper. She has been recognized by the Mockingbird poetry anthology, DAR Essay contest, and Scholastics Reflection Contest. Aaryana has also self published a book called the Butterfly Story available here.