Arooj Aftab has shared her debut performance on NPR’s “Tiny Desk (Home) Concert” series, singing selections from her latest LP Vulture Prince in a Brooklyn townhouse. Aftab—joined by violinist Darian Donovan Thomas, bassist and synthesizer player Shahzad Ismaily, guitarist Gyan Riley, and harpist Maeve Gilchrist—did “Suroor,” “Mohabbat,” and “Saans Lo.” Check it out below.
Aftab released Vulture Prince on New Amsterdam last April; she’s now announced her singing to Verve Records, for both the current album and future recordings. She recently completed a U.S. tour, and, last month, was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Global Music Performance (for “Mohabbat”) at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
Read Pitchfork’s “Rising” feature “Get to Know Arooj Aftab, the Defiant Singer Who’s Reimagining Traditional South Asian Music for Today.”