‘Society doesn’t accept some of our things, so you have to work hard to get your passion recognized. If there was a refusal from my father, I used to fight with him all the time, this is the biggest obstacle.’
It wasn’t easy for Zoha Zuberi to break into the singing field and hone her voice, instead she had to ‘fight a long time’ with her family and also endure a lot as a woman in the field.
For the past decade Music Zoha’s 2021 song ‘Kuch Kehna Chhata Hoon’ released in 2021 still makes the soft music listeners sing.
Along with Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United’s anthem ‘Jeet Ho Ya Haar’, he has also created the magic of sound with his music track ‘Ja Aoy’ on the country’s popular music television program ‘Velo Sound Station’.
Independent Urdu recently had a sit-down with Zoha in Islamabad, during which she spoke regarding her music career, challenges and her future plans.
Zoha also writes the lyrics of most of her songs herself. She said that since childhood she was fond of art, especially music and dance, but was naturally introverted, which is why she started writing down her thoughts.
According to Zoha: ‘When I started writing, I realized that this thing brings me joy and it should carry me along.’
Zoha, who expressed her thoughts through writing as a child, today performs on stage and is making a name for herself in the field of music.
In this regard, he said: ‘If I tell you the truth, the feelings remain the same, the legs are shaking and I think any artist, it is in his mind that he should give his best performance every time, so on stage. There is always fear before going. The only difference is that earlier I was not confident regarding my skills. Today I know that I will sing well, maybe there is fear that this performance will be the best or not.’
Zoha released her debut EP in 2019, which she describes as her ‘musical journey’.
He said: ‘It had a whole journey, a story, told like a story. The story was how I got to a point where I had to make music my profession, which was a long battle, once morest my family, once morest society and a lot of things, so when you have a sequence If you listen to it, maybe you can feel those emotions.’
An EP (mini-album) refers to a musical release, which is shorter in length than a full album and usually contains four to six songs.
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Zoha’s singing style is not traditional. That is why as a woman and that too a woman singing on a different dagger, she faced a lot of difficulties in this field.
He said that the way a woman can sing in the music industry is also restricted. If your way is different from the norm, it is not accepted, but if you are male and adopt unusual ways, it is accepted.
According to Zoha: ‘When I entered the industry, I mostly sang English songs. Urdu (songs) if she even sang, it was different from the norm and my voice is not that of mainstream music, which is expected to be loud. My voice has a different range, thori is provincial and my understanding of music, due to listening to more English songs as a child, is more influenced by English, so a woman to recognize her work. have to work harder.
“You’re told from the beginning that you have to sing in a limited range because you have to sing with a male artist and complement their voice, so you lose your own identity.” These challenges also affect your self-esteem and require more effort from you at every opportunity.’
For every singer who has a song very close to his heart, Zoha called his song ‘Kuch Kehna Chhata Hoon’ on this question, especially the last line of the song ‘Jab Puchhe Ga Wah Tum Se, Kya Mejh’. Who will you choose?’ It is especially important for them.
He said: ‘There is a special idea behind this song. People think it’s a sad song but it’s actually a very romantic song, pleading with your lover to choose you once more and once more.’
One of Zoha’s great honors is that she has also been the ambassador of music streaming platform Spotify’s ‘Equal Playlist’. He believes that Spotify has increased the knowledge of music listeners.
‘Earlier you might only listen to music on YouTube and YouTube is a video sharing platform, it’s not focused on audio. Because of this, the artists had to work harder and so did the listeners. Spotify builds the platform itself, features, promotes the artist, for the first time we have an artist centric platform in Pakistan. Due to this, Pakistan’s music industry has received a lot of support, which is also visible.
“The name (of singers) is appearing in various charts, (Pakistani) music is becoming popular worldwide, Pakistani artists are now collaborating with artists abroad. All these things were happening very rarely before.’
According to Zoha because of Spotify Female singers has also got an identity and a platform.
“Earlier, I used to ask anyone to tell me Pakistani female artists, and at most, all the names ended up on one hand. Now because of Spotify, everything from underground artists to mainstream artists is in front of you in one list, with a separate space for women, which is something we’ve always talked regarding. It is needed and women should have equal representation.’
Zoha is currently working on her own music album, which will include songs by other female singers from Pakistan.
In this regard, he said that he has an album coming, in which only female artistes will participate. ‘I’ve been making a female-centric album because I want to work with all the women in the industry so we can share with each other.’
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2024-07-14 12:00:39
