Arooj Aftab: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian art wing of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the most unique and visually arresting places in a city filled with them, containing the 2,000-year-old Temple itself along with other sculptures and pieces of art, a large reflecting pool and a giant, 25-foot-tall floor-to-ceiling window that extends the entire length of the hall and overlooks Central Park. It also may be the most unique and visually arresting music venue in the city. Over the years the room has hosted concerts by everyone from Interpol to the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, but it’s hard to think of a more fitting artist for such a setting than Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab, who won a Grammy earlier this year for her song “Mohabbat” from her latest album “Vulture Prince,” and was also nominated for Best New Artist.

Arooj Aftab and Gold Panda are among the names to have been announced for a new London festival, Polygon Live LDN 2025.Set to run in Crystal Palace Park from May 2 to May 4, it will be the largest outdoor spatial audio festival ever to be held in the UK, with early bird tickets on sale now – you can get yours here.Pakistani-American singer and composer Aftab – whose fourth solo album ‘Night Reign’ was named as one of the 50 best albums of 2024 by NME – will play at the site, as will London electronic producer Gold Panda, who released his latest album ‘The Work’ in 2022.Also on the bill is the celebrated producer Jon Hopkins, who has collaborated with Charli XCX and Coldplay in recent months as well as releasing his hypnotic new album ‘Ritual’.A post shared by Polygon LIVE | 360° Spatial Sound & Immersive Events Production (@polygon.live)Other names announced so far are Tinariwen, Halina Rice, Nitin Sawhney and Photay.Polygon Live LDN will feature the first ever use of spatial audio company Polygon Live’s dual-dome stage design, with speakers surrounding the audience, as well as over their heads. Each dome will boast almost 100 speakers, which is claimed to be five times the typical number for a festival stage.Polygon Live CEO Nico Elliott has said: “Originally, our deployment of spatial audio emerged from the live sets of electronic music.

One of music's biggest nights took place last night – Sunday 3 April – with the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Kanye West and Foo Fighters taking home more than one Grammy each. Musicians from far and wide flocked to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, donning their best attire for the star-studded evening.

This weekend, Arooj Aftab is vying for two Grammys: the vaguely offensive Best Global Music Performance award (for "Mohabbat") and the highly coveted Best New Artist award. Fittingly, the Brooklyn-based Pakistani singer has released two tracks today for Spotify Singles' Best New Artist series: a cover of Rosalía's 2018 hit "Di Mi Nombre (Cap.8: Éxtasis)" and a rework of "Baghon Main," the opener of her own 2021 album, Vulture Prince. Aftab's "Di Mi Nombre" cover puts a slight sufi spin on the song without erasing the flamenco roots of Rosalía's original.

Who is nominated for Best Global Music Performances?The nominees all hail from Africa and Asia, with many representing Nigeria. Pakistan-born, Brooklyn-based singer and composer Arooj Aftab is nominated for her song “Mohabbat”. Nominated for their collaboration of “Do Yourself,” is Angelique Kidjo, a Beninese singer-songwriter, and Burna Boy, a Nigerian singer/rapper.

Arooj Aftab announced in December that she had signed with Verve following the breakthrough success of her third studio album, April 2021's Vulture Prince. Now the Brooklyn-based, Pakistani, neo-sufi singer-songwriter has announced a deluxe, expanded version of the record, due out June 24 on Verve, and shared its first new single, "Udhero Na," featuring Anoushka Shankar on sitar and Maeve Gilchrist on harp.