Spotify: Mic Check Podcast: Arooj Aftab On Spotify Singles Best New Artist

Spotify: Mic Check refreshes because it captures sounds from around the world. Music fans can enjoy music that goes beyond their familiar playlists or AI-driven playlists. 

With the biggest night in music almost here, Spotify is closing out a week of celebrating the emerging talent nominated for the Best New Artist category with its Spotify Singles series. This past week, Spotify collaborated with a variety of the BNA-nominated artists on exclusive recordings, with each nominee reimagining one of their own hit songs, as well as recording a cover song as a tribute to a past Best New Artist nominee.

To conclude this week’s Spotify Singles series, Pakistani artist and composer Arooj Aftab is debuting two new tracks! For Side A, Arooj has covered 2020 Best New Artist nominee Rosalía’s “Di Mi Nombre,” transforming the Spanish superstar’s single into a Qawali-inspired version all its own. Side A is a re-imagination of her song “Baghon Main,” creating a stripped-down, twinkling version that highlights her hauntingly powerful vocals. 

Arooj’s historic Best New Artist nomination marks the first time a Pakistani woman has been nominated for a GRAMMY award, and following her nomination, Arooj saw an impressive 257% increase in US streams and 127% increase in global streams on Spotify. Arooj recently joined Spotify’s EQUAL program, which fosters equity for women in the audio space, as its ambassador for Pakistan for the month of March – a feat that landed her on a billboard in Times Square.

You can listen to both singles HERE.

Says Arooj Aftab: “I’ve always felt a very strong kinship to flamenco music, and recently having visited the south of Spain, even more undeniably so. It's always been in my periphery to make something with that energy. The driving rawness of the palmas, the haunted vocals are very much my vibe. The opportunity to cover a previous best new artist pointed me directly to Rosalia. And, while it was a very ambitious choice, I had a great time versioning this song [Di Mi Nombre]!”

The release of both singles follows Arooj’s recent interview on “Spotify: Mic Check,” where she opens up about her historic GRAMMY nomination, Pakistani culture, and her journey to this year’s GRAMMYs. 

You can listen to the full episode HERE.

Throughout the week, Spotify has highlighted a variety of Best New Artist nominees across genres as a part of the Spotify Singles campaign including Arlo Parks, FINNEAS, Jimmie Allen, Glass Animals, and Japanese Breakfast.

 Below are the interview highlights in the episode: 

Arooj Aftab on how her musical household growing up inspired her.
“Music was a really big part of my childhood. I kind of just grew up around my parents just having music really integrated in their lives. I kind of feel like they fell in love with each other because of their love for music and just kind of had this lifestyle of really celebrating music and playing music all the time and and like having music discourse. And I think that obviously has had a huge impact on how seamlessly it felt for me to get into music.”

Arooj Aftab on creating her own sub-genre of music early on in her career.
“When my first album came out back in 2015, the industry was so very tied to genre, and it was very difficult for me to explain this music that I had created. It's got so many sort of cultures meeting each other in such an elegant and graceful way that it almost feels like jazz, and it almost feels post-minimal and almost feels semi-classical. And it has such a sort of calming quality to it, you know, like, it's not Sufi music. So I coined the term neo-Sufi for that release, just for like the press and the people to be able to not have their brains explode…”

Arooj Aftab on dedicating her GRAMMY-nominated album, Vulture Prince to her late brother.
“He loved music a lot. He had a really great voice. He was kind of like on the wild side, you know, like kind of playing with fire a lot. And I was writing the record during which he passed. And so it was kind of a no brainer to dedicate it to him. And I think he would be really proud of how well it's doing.“

Arooj Aftab on being featured on former President Barack Obama’s Presidential Playlist in 2021.
“When Barack Obama's summer playlist came out like. We were like, "uh Was Barack Obama sitting and listening to Mohabbat? Like, you know, who broke his heart, like, really funny memes and stuff, like (laughs), kind of imagining him listening to Mohabbat, which felt really exciting, you know. My phone was just blowing up like crazy. I was kind of like, Is this viral? (laughs).”

Arooj Aftab on the moment she found out she was nominated for two GRAMMY awards including “Best New Artist”
“Arooj: I was in Karachi and I honestly really wished that I was in New York because I wasn't around anyone that I knew really. 

"After the global music nomination, I just turned the TV off and was screaming and chatting and answering phone calls and then my management were like, “Um, can you – you need to turn the TV back on.” I was like, “What?” They were like, “you've been nominated for Best New Artist!” And then I just lost my mind.”