|
Abrar-ul-Haq |
| Background information |
| Also known as |
Ibrar
Abrar |
| Born |
July 21, 1968 |
| Origin |
Lahore,
Pakistan |
| Genre(s) |
Bhangra
Pop
Rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer-songwriter
Musician |
| Years active |
1995 - Present |
| Label(s) |
Sound Master |
Abrar-ul-Haq (Urdu/Punjabi:
ابرار الحق) (Abrar is also spelled as Ibrar) is a
Pakistani pop,
bhangra and folk singer. On his first album "Billo De Ghar" his name appears
as simply "Abrar". His best-known work is the song "Billo De Ghar". Before
becoming a singer, he was a teacher at
Lahore's Aitchison College.
Life
He was born on July 21 in Faisalabad. Like many other young Pakistani
artists, Abrar had kept his year of birth secret from public in order to hide
his age, but in a recent interview he said he was born in 1968. He used to
give clues in TV programs saying he was quite young and not that old, and said
he was born in the 1960's.
He got his initial education from Gujrat and Rawalpindi. Took his
Bachelor's degree from Sir Syed College (Rawalpindi) and acquired Master's
degree in social sciences from Quaid-i-Azam University (Islamabad).
He joined Aitchison College’s permanent faculty in 1996. He had to quit
teaching to pursue his career in pop music; although he considers the day he
joined Aitchison College the proudest day of his life.
He primarily sings in
Punjabi which is the main language of bhangra genre, language of most
populated province of Pakistan and Abrar's native language. He sings in
Urdu too. His popular single
"Sanu Tere Nal" is in English and Punjabi.
Abrar's first single "Billo De Ghar" was an instant hit along with his
album. According to his web site more than 16 million copies of his debut
album have been sold.
Music and style
Abrar's music is sometimes considered of bhangra genre, however, three
genres, pop, rock and bhangra overlap in his musical work. His most popular
songs are in Punjabi language, although, he has sung almost equal number of
Urdu songs which are parts of all of his albums.
His Urdu language songs have not gained that kind of popularity which has
been earned by his Punjabi work. It is partly because of the vast difference
of his style in these two languages. His most Punjabi songs are upbeat, and
lyrics are very down to earth representing
Pakistani
culture with a humorous touch and clever sarcasm. On the other hand his Urdu
music is mostly sad, romantic and patriotic. In some of his Urdu songs, he
has copied some Urdu classics of Pakistani music.
He is often compared to Indian bhangra singers because of his popularity in
India. Most Indian Punjabi songs tend to celebrate the province of Punjab and
its culture but Abrar's music lacks this style. The reasons behind this are
of political nature. In Indian
Punjab the
political and cultural circumstances are quite different from those of
Pakistani Punjab. In Pakistan, Punjab is a dominant province, therefore,
music focusing on Punjab can be seen as politically provocative in other
provinces.
Although, beat is an essential part of Abrar's music but he choses his
melodies very carefully and always tries to keep them consistent with the
beat. He writes most of his songs, however, he often borrows poetry from Sufi
poets of Punjab which he cleverly mixes up in his humours songs.
Pioneer
Abrar-ul-Haq is arguably the pioneer of bhangra music in
Pakistan and
one of most influential musical figures of his country. He is considered
The King of Pakistani Pop by some fans.
He emerged in the era of heavy metal guitar and with predominantly Urdu
language pop music. His debut single was a Punjabi song Billo De Ghar
(Billo's home) which was an instant hit.
Abrar once told in a TV interview that he took six months to create this
song. Following his second album Majajni, which was also a big hit,
Pakistani pop music saw an explosion of Punjabi music which still continues.
Controversies
Like many other famous singers Abrars's musical work also has caused public
debates.
Billo De Ghar
His debut single, Billo De Ghar, erupted great controversy and gathered
much debate. Billo is a fairly common female nickname among
predominantly Muslim Punjabis of Pakistan. First line of the song, Assan
Tay Jaana Billo De Ghar, Kinnay Kinnay Jaana Billo De Ghar (Punjabi: We
will go to Billo's home, who else will go to Billo's home), was used as tease
by street bullies for Billo named young-adult females. This caused a fierce
reaction from the families of female victims, often resulting in physical
fights. In order to avoid any more of such situations in his another single,
Preeto, Abrar used a non-Muslim female nickname Preeto. This
name is almost extinct in Pakistan.
Nach Punjaban Nach
Nach Punjaban Nach (Punjabi: Dance Punjabi (woman) Dance;
Punjaban is female for Punjabi), second line of Abrar's single Punjabi
Touch also caused a public outrage as it was taken as an address to all
Punjabi women of Pakistan (more than 97% of Pakistani Punjabis are Muslims).
Abrar was sued in Lahore High Court. He personally went to the court and told
the judge that he would change the word Punjaban to Majajan.
He re-recorded the song and new batch of copies of his album, Assan Jana
Mall-o Mall, has the modified version of the song, however, copies of the
album with older version are still available and were never pulled from the
market. During a TV interview, he was asked about the meaning of Majajan.
He said, "Majajan is not a word. Real word is Majajni. I
changed it to Majajan to rhyme it with Punjaban."
SAHARA for Life Trust
He is the founder and chairman of SAHARA for Life Trust (tax
exempted charity organization), a charitable organisation promoting health and
education in remote areas. The term SAHARA stands for: "Services Aimed
at Health and Awakening in Remote Areas".
The abbreviation SAHARA has been chosen very cleverly as it is Roman script
or transliteration for a word of
Urdu (سہارا) which means aid or assistance.
Musical collaborations
Recently, Abrar has teamed up with Gurdas Mann and Sukshinder Shinda in a
Punjabi single called Collaborations. The song was an immediate
success. (2006)
Abrar's next album will feature Gurdas Mann and Sukshinder Shinda again
where a duet between Abrar and Gurdas which will be produced by Sukshinder
Shinda. Abrar's album, Preeto, was released in 2006.
Discography
Regular studio albums
- Billo De Ghar (1995)
- Majajni (1997)
- Bay Ja Cycle Tay (1999)
- Assan Jana Mall-o Mall (February 5, 2002)
- Nachan Main Audhay Naal (June 1, 2004)
- Naara Sada Ishq Aey (March, 2007)
Hits compilations / Studio albums
- Mein Gaddi Aap Chalawan Ga (2000)
Trivia
- He has developed quite different personal image considering his field of
music. He has never appeared in any elaborately fashioned dresses which are
normally associated with pop music. He almost always appears in business
casual dress except for rare occasions where he wore salwar kameez, the
national dress of Pakistan.
- In 2000, PTV World gave him award for best folk singer and following
year he won award for best pop singer from the same institute.
- It is alleged that he belongs to Tarar family and is related to Muhammad
Rafiq Tarar but there is no proof to accept or reject this claim.
- He owns a mercedes and is seen frequently in Rawalpindi.
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