Asif Khan Inc.

ali azmat – biggest south asian rockstar(?)

courtesy taji and youtube, I have been fed with a lot of pakistani music the past couple of days. not that I’m complaining. pakistani music has always occupied a special chamber in my heart. as a kid, it used to be the disco flavored nazia hassan, who remains a favorite till now. recent years saw quite a few of the newer acts – aaroh, mekaal hasan, ep, etc etc - invading my listening hours.  but then like the wise men say, what you learn in college takes you through life (certain wiser ones though ask you to make it a point to ‘un’learn everything once you are out of college – contrasting opinions. 8 years out of college and I am still figuring out the process of selective unlearning). during that time, it had to be junoon. there was no reason for anybody to have escaped the colossal marauding march with which they took over complete geographies.

cut to present, and the currently defunct junoon. the two faces which led junoon probably still don’t see eye to eye. both embarked on solo careers, and fairly successful ones. but out of the two, one face – which is now in fact just a face, with hair giving way to a glistening skinhead and eyes perpetually behind dark shades – still stands strong as the biggest rockstar to have emerged out of the subcontinent, arguably even south asia. quite a subjective view point, but ali azmat proved it with the chutzpah he displayed even after he distanced himself from junoon. the insane amount of energy, containing which is simply not possible within the confines of both of his albums – social circus and klashinfolk – is a befitting testimonial of this view. though I had heard them during the days the albums were released, the past couple of days were a process of rediscovery and analyzing them in conjunction with the days he spent with junoon, and the overall nature of work that came out during both phases in his life.  junoon, after its initial success, trapped itself into a houdini’s cage of sufi music. ali broke away from that mould when he started on his own. music after all is a creative pursuit. and if you don’t create anything new, there isn’t much of a point, is there? listen to any of the compositions on both his albums, and you’ll immediately identify with the sudden rushes of blood in your system with what you define as the most basic spirit of rock n roll. listen to him talk on any of his interviews, and his I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude announces itself in capital letters. look at him walk, and that swagger in his gait gives it all away. even his looks proclaim r-o-c-k-s-t-a-r (though his looks do remind me of another rockstar on this side of the border, whom I do consider to be the biggest one around here. what is it with being a skinhead these days; whatever happened to the long haired ones?).

I may be sounding somewhat fixated, which I probably am. but then fixation it is, which allows me to delve in deeper. download his albums, buy them, check them on youtube. and all the best – if you get fixated, that is.

check out the garish imagery employed in the video of ‘na re na’, the supreme poetic quality of the lyrics, and the pain in his voice.

na re na (social circus) – ali azmat