It’s an exciting time for the music category of the Lux Style Awards; finally, the awards are going to be just as competitive as the other categories, if not more. 2017 introduced so many fresh, new faces to Pakistan’s sonic landscape and they are all extremely deserving of the honour and mileage. Here are the nominations for this year and our predictions for who will win the coveted awards.
Album of the year
36 by Sikander ka Mandar
600 Saal by E Sharp
Elhaam by Sounds of Kolachi
Fanoos by Zohaib Kazi
Wajd by Hadiqa Kiani
A few years ago, there weren’t enough music albums to fill up this category, but we have 5 extremely credible names this year. Sikander Ka Mandar and E Sharp have both been consistent names in the indie circuit while Sounds of Kolachi really made a mark with Elhaam. Zohaib Kazi’s Fanoos is one of our personal favourites but we think the award will go to Hadiqa Kiani for Wajd. The star made her comeback with a carefully constructed and thematic album, and she is also the biggest and most well known name in this list.
Singer of the Year
Abid Brohi for ‘The Sibbi Song’ from Patari
Ali Azmat and Qurat ul Ain Baluch for ‘Chal Diye‘ from Cornetto Pop Rock
Ali Hamza, Ali Sethi & Waqar Ehsan from ‘Tanak Dhin‘ from Coke Studio
Lyari Underground for ‘Players of Lyari’ from Patari
Riaz Qadri and Zohaib Kazi for ‘Takht Hazar‘ from Fanoos
There’s no doubt that the most deserving name in this list is Abid Brohi, the breakout star of 2017, whose collaboration with SomeWhatSuper, ‘The Sibbi Song‘ was the most viral song of the year. It propelled Abid Brohi to new heights, and there has been no looking back for him since. We do wish that SomeWhatSuper were somehow acknowledged for this song as well in the nominations as this category was previously known as ‘Song of the Year’.
Ali Hamza, Ali Sethi and Waqar Ehsan’s ‘Tanak Dhin‘ was also hugely popular last year, so it could go to either of the two.
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Best Music Video Director
Qamar Anwer for ‘Kasani‘
Raza Shah for ‘The Sibbi Song’
Sana Jaffri for ‘Madam’
Taimoor Salahuddin for ‘Chan Kithan‘
Waleed Ahmed for ‘Super Cat’
Perhaps the most powerful statement came in the shape of Jimmy Khan’s ‘Madam’, directed by Sana Jaffri. The video very accurately depicts a day in the life of a transgender in Pakistan and the humiliation they are subjected to on a daily basis. However, Mooroo’s work for Ali Sethi’s ‘Chan Kithan‘ and Qamar Anwer’s for ‘Kasani‘ are both strong contenders too. Mooroo very beautifully depicted the class difference in our society while Qamar Anwer showed the gritty reality of growing up in Lyari.
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Best Emerging Talent
Abdullah Siddiqui for ‘Fiction’
Badnam for ‘Khwaja ke Diwani’
Kashmir for ‘Kaghaz ka Jahaz‘
Keeray Makoray for ‘Island in the City‘
Roots for ‘Pagal Sa‘
Abdullah Siddiqui’s ‘Fiction’ is technically very superior to all of the other names in the list; the song is modern, electronic and has a global appeal. However, the emerging talent award has to be one that looks at all factors into consideration, such as showmanship, popularity amongst the masses and of course, talent. Pepsi Battle of the Band’s finalists Badnaam and Kashmir are definitely the strongest names because of that: both are powerful performers and produce beautiful, original music. But we think Kashmir is winning this one. And we hope so too.
