Beyond Boundaries

Abbas Ali Khan

Original Credits

Poet : Hasan Akber Kamal

Music : Arshad Mehmood

Singer: Nayyara Noor

Coke Studio Pakistan has been one of my favorite music shows of all time. The show was way ahead of its time in terms of it’s music production and also the quality of music being made. Over the years it became a platform for a lot of upcoming music artists in the region to make it big in their music careers.

Just when you feel that the current season was the best ever, CS Pakistan drops another season which beats their previous standards. They have been doing this year over year.

Mujhay Baar Baar by Abbas Ali Khan released in Season X. I was blown away with that composition and it instantly became a song that I heard on loop. I then explored Abbas Ali Khan’s work more and his music felt like… Home. His music felt like something Indian music scene could have had more of. His music maintains a class in the lyrics and composition that was more prominent in 90s and early 2000s music, yet feels modern.

This song was covered by Abbas and I instantly liked it. I discovered that this was a track for one of the old soap operas in Pakistan that was really popular - Dhoop Kinaray, and Abbas made a really simple unplugged version of this which was treasure to the ears.

Years later, I covered another one of his songs. This one is called Kabhi. Explore his music on youtube and you won’t be surprised.