It boggles the mind how the best Pakistani music is only available online — on Spotify, YouTube and TikTok. Other than maybe a few channels on the radio, you won’t see Pakistani music being played on the TV, except when major sponsors buy airtime and play the latest season of their annual music show on it. It seems like another lifetime when we had dedicated television channels purely for musical entertainment — the type that targets the youth and not just aunties at home.

So, it has all shifted online. It’s a terribly exciting time. We have some of the most prolific artists producing new music in Pakistan nowadays. With the online space considered to be more democratic, we’d like to believe that the more popular acts are popular based purely on merit.

And yes, it turns out TikTok is a great resource to gauge how popular a song is in Pakistan, when every other account can be seen posting the mini videos with it in the background or with influencers lip-syncing to it.

Out of the current generation of artists, Taha G, it turns out, is a TikTok treasure. His earlier release from the year, Dil Ke Isharay, which is still going strong both online and on the radio, is a TikTok favourite. He’s recently released another foot-tapping single called Yaari [Camaraderie].

Taha G’s latest release, Yaari, carries forward the catchy, light-hearted vibe of his previously released popular number, Dil Ke Isharay

Off the bat, the video is incredible and must only be watched on the big screen. Both the music and video production are slick and perfect. The video doesn’t follow any logic or even a narrative thread, there are just aesthetically messy sets with objects thrown about everywhere and good mood lighting. The atmosphere changes with every set and the transitions don’t seem to be based on any storyline.

He’s dancing in a suit inside a giant lit pipe in one frame, wearing a helmet trying to drink something in another, has a band painted over his eyes in another where it seems like he’s the joker from a pack of cards. And, in yet another frame, he’s channelling his inner Drake. It’s evident that Taha is having a ball and is an entertainer at heart.

The video makes no sense whatsoever. But it’s fun to watch. And that pretty much sums up the whole song as well.

Yaari is a mellow, danceable, electropop, rhythm and bass-esque number that shows off Taha G’s vocal prowess in this genre. A bilingual (Urdu, English) number, we can hear Taha G hit some pretty sweet high notes and transition effortlessly into another language, another vibe seamlessly.

And that’s what the song is about essentially — vibes. Over here, we’re talking about a very generic relationship (Romantic? Platonic? Who knows!). But most importantly, does it even matter? Must we define this relationship and/or situation? And how complicated-yet-great it is with the most simplistic lyrics, ever. Case in point, what can be considered the ‘chorus’:

Yaari, hai humari kaisi [What is this camaraderie]/ Tryin’ to keep it classy
Gehri, hai humari dosti [Deep, is our friendship]/ Still we’re talking aimlessly

Aimlessly, being the keyword here. Both the song and the video. But they are both catchy and entertaining. And in these very serious, climate-induced apocalyptic times, perhaps just the light-heartedness we need.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 11th, 2022