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about
Sheherazaad is an American performer-composer, whose contemporary folk-pop synthesis joins the new wave of South Asian diasporic soundscapes.
Native to the San Francisco Bay Area and brought up second-generation in an immigrant household, Sheherazaad gleans from Western classical and South Asian sonic lineages. Her contemporary voicing, though inherently genre-defiant, may be described as alternative folk or experimental ballad. Sheherazaad’s original lyricism modernises certain existing Hindi-Urdu poetic forms, channelling questions of displacement, mother tongue, imagined homelands, and beyond. Currently, she allows the experience of shifting between India and Brooklyn, NYC to shape her eccentric and hyphenated musical aesthetic.
Sheherazaad’s namesake is the revolutionary figure from the largely Middle Eastern and South Asian epic collection of folktales The One Thousand and One Nights, more commonly spelt Scheherazade. This major character’s storytelling prowess brings an end to the mindless genocide of women.
Expanding further, Sheherazaad says: “She has been a favourite and beloved character of mine since childhood for her ferocious storytelling ability that saves lives. Also, in Hindi and Urdu, Sheherazaad translates to ‘Free City’. I love the idea of a person, especially a woman, being a kind of ‘city’ entity in and of themselves. In the South Asian context, this idea of ‘sheher’ (city) is more visceral with metropolises historically being centres for innovation, forward-thinking, and more social mobility for women specifically.”
Introducing her alluring debut single for Erased Tapes, Mashoor speaks to the glamour as well as the dis-ease surrounding the experience of Fame. The song is also a larger commentary on the values we are fostering as a world society, where particular people, institutions, or countries are celebrated, despite being inherently narcissistic and perverted.
lyrics
Mashoor, hum mashoor
Hogaye hum mashoor
Kis liye hum mashoor
Niche dekho
Kya zyaada upar char gayi?
Niche dekho
Kya zyaada upar char gayi?
Aine mein aks mera kahaan?
Aine mein aks mera kahaan?
Kuch toh alag hai zaroor
Mashoor...
Mera qasoor...
Yeh qarz kisko vaapas de doo?
Saara lahu...
Mujhe itihaas nahi chahiye
Miraas meri nahi chahiye
Ab hum besur
Aur fazool hai...sab fazool...
Lautne ka raasta na maalum
Kisne kaha manzoor
Kaise kiya humne kabool
Kabse yeh sab shuru
Bas dikhao ek bar mera vajud
Mera vajud
Kis liye hum mashoor?
credits
released October 25, 2023
Composer: Sheherazaad
Lyricist: Sheherazaad
Arranger: Sheherazaad
Urdu Consultation: Bilal Sami
Dearest Arooj, firstly thank you. My brother died this year n what can be said about such loss n sadness. I saw n heard you at The end of the Road in England. I spent many years in India n love all the music, poetry of your heritage. Thankyou Arooj❤️ ben1769
By chance I found a concert by Hania on YouTube and immediately fell in love with her music. You leave the earthly world and float for a certain time in a beautiful sound-dream world. Thank you very much for that, dear Hania. roadsprinter
There is something truly magic about this album, nearly each piece is for me a precious gem... Nils keeps inspiring me as a listener and as a modest musician. It's astonishing how all the noises in the recordings become alive and amplify the delicate intimacy and simplicity of the music, it's like adding another dimension that goes deep and inside your soul. Maybe the best album so far, thank you Nils! fuipiedra
Collaborating remotely with 12 songwriters from all over the world, Kim Edgar emerged with a work of striking art pop. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 11, 2023