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Mikki Murshed releases debut music video

By Maheen Sabeeh
11 May, 2018

After making his stage debut at the Mad Decent Block Party in Islamabad earlier this year, the rapper is back in the spotlight with a dark, evocative song and video.



Pakistani music has a thriving, vibrant rap scene with newer, edgier artists emerging quite frequently. Xpolymer Dar, for example, may have gained a national profile through his electric song ‘Power Di Game’ which is a part of the soundtrack of Shoaib Mansoor’s 2017 film Verna, but he is also a part of Rap Engineers, who have been making music since 2005.

Islamabad-based Adil Omar, a genius rapper whose current work, the album and film Transcendence, not only deserves a separate story but who is another pioneering figure, having released elaborate, innovative rap creations for years.

Some of the other prolific rap musicians adding variety and personal narratives to the scene include Young Stunners, Lyari Underground, Abid Brohi and Faris Shafi.

Bohemia, a giant in the field who appeared on Coke Studio in its earlier years and collaborated with Sajjad Ali in recent months, is another influencing artist who is followed, in Pakistan, India and beyond.

Adding to this list is Mikki Murshed. He made his stage debut at this year’s Mad Decent Block Party, that was brought to Islamabad by American music producer/DJ Diplo (and in which Adil Omar and Talal Qureshi played a crucial role, not only as artists when they took the stage as SNKM, but also in the curation process of local artists and organizing it).

Having played MDBP in February and performed at the Lux Style Awards later this year and with several singles to his credit, Mikki Murshed has emerged with his debut music video, ‘Kameenay’.

Directed by Shahbaz Shigri, the song titled ‘Kameenay’ is composed and written by Mikki himself, and is, according to a press statement, “based on the blame game that takes place between a man and woman during a rough patch in a relationship”.


Speaking about the song and the video that accompanies it, Mikki stated, “I was in a place in my life where I felt misunderstood in terms of my personal relationships, but I was so stuck in my ways that I couldn’t seem to get the point across. As a result, I wrote a song about a man longing for the affection of a woman who seems to have had enough with his antics. Trying to show his true feelings while struggling with expectations of masculinity in society, causing him to stop pouring his heart out and return to his chauvinistic ways. The song turned out to be quite successful locally so I thought I’d capitalize on the wave and finally make my first video. And I absolutely love the way it turned out.”‘Kameenay’ also includes samples such as ‘Piya Tu Abh Toh Aaja’ from the film Caravan and “interpolates ‘Moonage Daydream’ as performed by David Bowie”.

While the music video begins with a trippy opening sequence as it introduces the credits and amplifies our curiosity by including the iconic ‘Piya Tu’ sample, the rest of it feels like a dark, provocative short-film that you try and decipher with each watch. With a neo-noir visual treatment that helps telling the story, the video sees Mikki walking through lanes, looking at the camera and saying his verses until a woman enters the frame and the hook appears which goes like this: “Haye Kameenay, Kuttay Kameenay, Saalay Kameenay, Tere mu pe lanat, lanat, lanat”. Other characters emerge and disappear but the song and video seem to mirror a complicated relationship, eluding to issues and emotions that emerge between sexes with Mikki and the mysterious woman at the heart of it.

Or perhaps that’s just my interpretation of it. Nonetheless, it is a bold debut for Mikki Murshed and another win for Shahbaz Shigri - who has several brilliant music videos to his credit and a couple of LSA nominations as well.