Arooj Aftab

Born in Riyadh to Pakistani parents and raised in Lahore before moving to the United States in 2005, Arooj Aftab has developed a musical language situated between jazz, minimalism, folk, Hindustani classical music and the Urdu ghazal. Trained at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and later based in New York, Aftab is active on the city's jazz and "new music" scenes while also working for film and documentary. Her early covers released online in the early 2000s spread widely in Pakistan and accompanied the emergence of a local independent scene. Her solo discography includes Bird Under Water (2014), Siren Islands (2018), Vulture Prince (2021) and Night Reign (2024). She combines spare arrangements, slow tempos, ambient textures and a voice often placed front and center, with Urdu poetry playing a central role. In parallel she recorded Love in Exile (2023) with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily in a trio format, extending her dialogue with improvisation. In 2022 Arooj Aftab received a Grammy for "Mohabbat", becoming the first Pakistani artist to be honored with that award.