How would you feel mixing Pakistani qawwali legend, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (NFAK), with progressive house music? It’s not an alien concept, but this is NFAK, he put Pakistani music on the global map, he gave several generations of Pakistanis a collective identity and connection through his work. Needless to say, Pakistani audiences are a bit emotional when it comes to him.

So Feroze Faisal — one half of the Pakistani electronic dance music duo Somewhat Super, who just released JTKWMK, which plays on some of NFAK’s lyrics — better tread carefully.

Before we begin, what even is JTKWMK? “Jo Teri Khushi Woh Meri Khushi,” explains Feroze Faisal. This line and a couple of others have been extracted from NFAK’s legendary number, Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai, but in a way that only the most ardent Nusrat fans would be able to figure out.

“You’ll find their vocals online but they were pretty much scattered all over the place. I wanted a fresh original feel to it. That’s why I didn’t pick up the main chorus of Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai. I just took the ‘jo teri khushi woh meri khushi’ [he sings this part] to make a tagline. I wanted to keep it very simple and commercial and a radio-friendly track. I think I was able to achieve that.

Feroze Faisal’s JTKWMK is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the teeny tiniest of nutshells

The track itself is very easy to listen to. It starts with a few beeps before the NFAK’s qawwal ensemble’s vocals begin, and then the song picks up pace until it becomes a pop number that you know will resonate well with audiences. JTKWMK is a very shallow, but fun and upbeat track that takes a teeny tiny snippet of NFAK, plays up that familiar rhythm and nostalgia and shows you a good time without you having to go into the depth of the qawwal’s lyrics or work. That, perhaps, someone else will do. So, adjust your expectations accordingly before listening to Feroze Faisal’s JTKWMK.

Although he’s already released a few tracks this year, Feroze isn’t taking a break from releasing music anytime soon. “I have around 10-12 tracks ready to be released by the end of this year,” he says. “This includes [collaborations with] Sounds of Kolachi, Lakeer ke Faqeer and Pukhtoncore from Peshawar among others.”

But he’s kind of had enough of working from home. “The lockdown has been very productive for me,” says Feroze. “I’ve been able to do a lot of music in the past few months. But if you look at it financially, we weren’t getting gigs. The market has been down. Had to sell a few things to survive. Let’s hope things get better so we can go back to our normal lives and play music for our audiences.” Now that restaurants, gyms and tourism is open, perhaps concerts will soon follow as well.

After listening to Feroze’s version of JTKWMK, of course, one must visit YouTube and listen to every snippet of the original Halka Halka Suroor by NFAK that’s available. There’s even a track called Jo Teri Khushi Woh Meri Khushi which isolates this verse from the larger composition and you can hear where the audio sample was picked up from.

And while exploring NFAK’s work, it’s worth listening to an excellent radio documentary Nusrat Was My Elvis (available on the BBC Sounds website) on the late qawwal’s life, in the words of those he worked with and influenced. Indeed, he was many people’s Elvis, and so much more.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 16th, 2020