By Emb Hashmi
Ali Abbas, is a very talented new British Pakistani Sufi vocalist whose aim in music is to bring Sufi literature and music back with a contemporary twist, in which he is being successful. Ali Abbas is not only a singer but has a long list of talents; he is also a spoken word poet, a sincere songwriter, compelling composer and accomplished Acapella vocalist. Born in Pakistan, this young British Asian talent has had an unconventional start to his musical career. He studied an engineering degree at university, but confesses he was writing poetry and songs in his lectures rather than taking notes on engineering. Ali Abbas is fluent in several languages, being Punjabi, English and Urdu and wants his music to reach many people so is learning Pashto and Farsi. He launched himself as a singer on BritAsia Super Star and even though this had been the first time he had sang in public, he became a finalist on the talent show. Ali told Asian World “I am inspired by Ustad Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan sahab”.
“I was brought up by my aunty, and she loved to listen to music. This made me interested in and inspired by music from a very young age. Growing up in east London I was exposed to different genres of music, from grime to urban hip hop and garage.” Ali told Asian World his music ambition started at the tender age of 4 more or less, when he could tell he has immense passion for music and only music. Due to him not being the usual British Asian artist, his style and genre is so varied and different, that it is sure to catch attention for its originality and great sound. Young Ali mixes his Sufi/Qawali influenced voice with modern music, bringing two parts of himself together, one being Pakistani and the other, British. Asian World asked Ali Abbas what genre of music he specialises in, “I am completely genra-less, if you close yourself to one type of music you can’t open your music to other styles, so I leave it to listeners to categories my music”.
Ali has previously collaborated with MC Special after MC Special’s kind offer to work on his album, after being impressed by Ali Abbas on Brit Asia Super Star 2010. The song is called ‘Ranja Sade Vehdeh’, which has had a positive response from listener’s. He is appreciated a lot where ever he performs which includes venues such as Madame Tussauds (Brit Writers’ Awards), Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (Muslim Writers’ Awards), The Royal Concert Hall Glasgow (opening act at Atif Aslam’s concert), The Watford Palace Theatre (Mummy Ji Presents), music events, melas, festivals and others and has repeatedly been known to leave the audience mesmerised and with ‘goosebumps’ after hearing his amazing vocal talent.
Ali Abbas has had a great response to his singing career, but as with anything in life, the good always comes with some bad, Ali explains how he handles this, “negative comments don’t deflate me, they’re good as they keep me grounded. They help me to perform better and prove critics wrong”. He explained, “I would like to provide a platform to new artists and I want to do a lot of good with my music, as I believe it has power to transcend generations and also has the power to influence people. I plan to target the world when it comes to who I want my audience to be”. His latest release, Nit Khair Manga, a tribute to his inspiration, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahab, has done incredibly well. It has been the highest selling Asian track on iTunes – World UK, for almost each day since its release and the song got to number 1 on the BBC Asian Network chart.
