Arooj Aftab

Over the last few years, Arooj Aftab has emerged as one of the most innovative composers and vocalists of our time. A true visionary whose architectural compositions unfurl into moving reflections on love and loss. She has spent over a decade honing her craft in New York City's experimental scenes and before that studying jazz at The Berklee College of Music in Boston. During that time, she's learned to mellifluously blend a wide array of genres, from jazz to minimalism to Pakistani semi-classical, and to sing with such intentionality and focus that it sounds like she is chiseling every word out of marble. Thematically, Aftab's work twists the radiant glow of love and the crushing pain of its absence into a whirlpool of longing. She is inspired by the poetics of the ordinary — the grandeur of a centuries old tree, the glow of the moon, the yearning floating in the air at dusk, the drama of incomplete love affairs — these inspirations are the mirror to her music, as she witnesses the world. The emotions Aftab conveys feel intimate and familiar, like they were pulled from a forgotten dream. But her musical skill is so precise and her voice is so singular that the music sounds like nothing that has ever come before it.

It's no wonder Aftab's music has resonated with so many people, from former president Barack Obama who put "Mohabbat" on his Songs of the Summer playlist in 2021 to Pitchfork who have named her last two records Best New Music, to the Grammys, who gave "Mohabbat" an award in the Best Global Music Performance category and nominated her for Best New Artist.

Arooj Aftab was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents. Throughout her childhood, Aftab's parents lived a life defined by music and encouraged her to do the same. Their love of music brought them together in college, and as their relationship grew, they regularly hosted listening parties, musical performances, and engaged in music discourse around the house. Her family returned to their hometown of Lahore, Pakistan in the 1990s. As a teenager growing up there, Aftab found inspiration in the city's lush gardens, intricate architecture, and Urdu poetry. When she was 18, a cover she recorded of Lenord Cohen's "Hallelujah" became one of the first songs to go viral online in Pakistan. From there, she went on to study jazz at Berklee College of Music and, after graduating, moved to New York City where she's been living and making music ever since.

Aftab's experience as an immigrant has a profound impact on her work. "Embracing fluidity helps build community," she says. "To be an immigrant is to find identity in movement and change." Her work blends a number of genres together, and her vocal skill shines when she's improvising, as is the case on Love In Exile, her recent album with pianist Vijay Iyer and bass and synth player Shazahd Ismaily. Across brooding, gauzy washes of synth and twinkling keys, a single word she sings can transform from heartbroken to searching to defiant.

Aftab's adaptability on that record speaks to not only her immense musical skill and control, but her ability to use music as a means of connection, too. Though she often sings about separation, isolation, and love in exile, her music is ultimately rooted in the communal. Following the mainstream success of her 2021 album Vulture Prince, Aftab has been performing her music live extensively throughout the world. Audiences arrive, gracefully carrying their grief and pain with them, and watch it transform into hope in the warm and supportive atmosphere that Aftab creates at her shows. They laugh with her between songs and witness as she expresses all the drama, anxiety, and beauty of the human condition with her music.

It is difficult work to face and articulate the depths of your loneliness and the gravity of your desire, but Aftab does so fearlessly. In turn, she invites us to dig into the forgotten or ignored crevices of our own hearts and bring what we find to the surface, to be admired and remembered together.

• • •

SHORT BIO

Over the last few years, Grammy award winning artist, Arooj Aftab, has emerged as one of the most innovative composers and vocalists of our time, a true visionary whose architectural compositions unfurl into moving reflections on love and loss. Her work mellifluously blends a wide array of genres, from jazz to minimalism to Pakistani semi-classical, and she sings with such intentionality and focus that it sounds like she is chiseling every word out of marble.

Aftab is inspired by the poetics of the ordinary — the grandeur of a centuries old tree, the glow of the moon, the yearning floating in the air at dusk, the drama of an incomplete love affair — these inspirations are the mirror to her music, as she witnesses the world.

Her incredible work has resonated with listeners across the globe: She has been named one of NPR's Top 100 composers, and has been featured on several best concerts lists, including one by The New York Times. Her 2021 Vulture Prince album was met with critical acclaim from The Guardian, Time Magazine, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. Aftab has performed at major international music festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera Sound Barcelona, Roskilde Festival, and Montreal Jazz Festival. She has also performed at several Performance Art Centers such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, and The Broad. Aftab is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and a recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music.