“I am beyond thrilled,” says Pakistani musician Arooj Aftab
Arooj Aftab, the Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist, scored her first Grammy, winning a prestigious trophy for her song “Mohabbat” in the Best Global Performance category.
The 37-year-old has been steadily gaining global attention for her work that fuses ancient Sufi traditions with inflections of folk, jazz and minimalism.
“I feel like this category in of itself has been insane… it should this be called yacht party category,” Aftab said onstage at the 64th Grammy Awards. “I made [this record] about everything that broke me and put me back together. Thank you for listening to it and making it yours.”
She is also up for the coveted Best New Artist prize, which will be presented during the main Grammy telecast later Sunday.
“I am beyond thrilled,” the artist told journalists at the pre-gala ceremony, at which the vast majority of awards are handed out. “It feels great.”
Born and raised in Lahore, she moved to the US to study at the Berklee College of Music. Arooj Aftab started her career as an entirely self-taught female guitarist. She grew up listening to artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and American singer Jeff Buckley.