PESHAWAR: Noted Pashto folk singer Sardar Yousafzai has recently launched his 14th album titled ‘Lmar Pa Chinaruno’ comprising ghazals of the famed Pashto poets despite financial constraints.
Born with a natural flail for singing, he learnt the basics of music from local Ustads, only to experiment with different music genres. The genre of light ghazal in Pashto folk blend was one thing that stayed with him. Widely known as a folk singer, Mr Yousafzai’s choice of poetry from the bulk of acclaimed Pashto poets with traditional music orchestra never weaned him.
Hailing from Malakand, the folk singer has a large following in KP, Fata, Balochistan, Afghanistan and Gulf States where Pakhtun immigrants live and love him due to his exclusive way of expression and melodious voice. The singer said his new album had already got a positive response from his online fans and that he was hopeful it would top Pashto music charts.
Sardar Yousafzai says Pashto music is losing its once thriving market to modern gadgets
Unfortunately, at the peak of his music career, Malakand and Swat were taken over by militants, who had brought down the literary and cultural activities in the valley to a standstill. He too became a victim of the militant’s brutality, but he kept on clinging to traditional ghazal music till recently when his young son fell prey to a cancerous disease.
Mr Yousafzai said trends of marketing music had changed over the last few years which caused a speedy downfall of sponsorship of music production. “Pashto music lost its once thriving market to modern gadgets. The new trend has robbed artists of their copyrights,” he said.
This time around he has picked up ghazals from Rahmat Shah Sail, Rashid Khattak, Pir Mohammad Karwan, Dr Khaliq Ziar, Rahmatullah Dard, Saeed Shinwari, Jamil Khan Jamil, Dost Mohammad Dilsoz, and two folk songs.
“I believe in the strength of ghazal rendition because it always corresponds to varying moods of listeners. I keep a gap of at least one year between my albums to maintain quality and also to match taste of the audience,” he remarked.
He told this scribe that he sold out his pistol to pay for recording of his album. He said he knew his album was not going to fetch him money, but at the same time he didn’t want to deprive his fans of medley of ghazal poetry.
About his selected ghazals, he said his albums were marked by composition, freshness and impact. He said he chose those poetic pieces advocating peace, tolerance, plurality and humanism drenched in romantic veins. He said poetry of Saeed Shinwari, Rashid Khattak and Pir Mohammad Karwan was laden with a progressive purpose and cast a slow impact on the audience. “Such stuff takes time to absorb and digest its content because it needs a high level of understanding and a certain environment to comprehend its depth,” he explained.
Senior music composer Nazeer Gul Ustad told this scribe that Sardar Yousafzai being a poet himself had a penchant for quality poetry and music composition. He said his album ‘Lmar Pa Chinaruno’ moved the audience as it carried a valid substance.
“Sardar Yousafzai belongs to a breed of folk singers, who believe in value of their art, not the price. Such art stays and never betrays people because it speaks for them,” Mr Gul said.
Mr Yousafzai said unless Pashto artists got themselves acquainted with the modern tools, their art would soon dissolve into hi-tech market piracy. He advised senior artists to learn how to market their productions in a safe way.
“I am still positive about the fact that quality poetry and music will always reign over the hearts of the masses thought not over the music market,” the folk singer said.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2018