In a beautiful blast from the past, Pakistan Coke Studio’s Tajdar-e-Haram (above), performed by singer Atif Aslam and produced by Strings, has become the country’s first YouTube video to cross 100 million views. Tajdar-e-Haram was originally composed by the Sabri Brothers, who have been known as the doyens of qawaali music and was written by Hakim Mirza Madni.
The hit song premiered in 2015 during Season 8 of the vastly popular television show, which has been credited with making all genres of music accessible to a wide audience. It features performances blending folk and traditional music with contemporary global genres like hip-hop, R&B and even pop.
Coke Studio, created by Pakistani music producer Rohail Hyatt in 2008, is the longest-running annual TV music show in that country.
Soon afterwards, another song – a performance of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Afreen Afreen – from the ninth season of Coke Studio became the second video from Pakistan to hit 100 million views on YouTube. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Momina Mustehsan’s rendition (video below) made it to the one-hundred-million-club within a year of being aired.
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