How we got here

ome of the best songs in Pakistan’s modern music history have been the result of branded music shows. Taste is subjective but if I had to pick songs from a variety of branded shows that have emerged in the last decade or more, sporadically or annually, I’d pick ‘Aik Alif’ by Saeen Zahoor and Ali Hamza (Coke Studio), ‘Mein’ by Meesha Shafi (Pepsi Battle of the Bands), ‘Rang Laaga’ by Sajjad Ali and Sanam Marvi, (Coke Studio), ‘Resistance’ by Abdullah Siddiqui (Nescafe Basement), and ‘Amrit’ by Meesha Shafi (Velo Sound Station).

But there are hundreds of songs to choose from and on any given day one song can become the song you put on repeat like a reinvention of a Nazia Hassan classic, an original synth-pop song by a band that has parted ways after more than three decades or a performance by the country’s only shoegaze band in a promising albeit short-lived music doc-series.

In short, you cannot discount the enduring power of these songs just because they are the result of a branded show. The funding for a lot of music comes from brands. It is also preferred by some artists since it includes a PR section that takes care of everything from pushing a song on various social media platforms to addressing the press and setting up interviews and dealing with management of said artists. Make the song, shoot its visuals, and you’re done.

A staggering number of shows, good, bad, or in-between continue to emerge and disappear. In that sense, Coke Studio has remained consistent. Other shows have come and gone, giving us some good songs and artists but also cringe-worthy offerings to say the least.

An aberration

When Velo Sound Station arrived in 2020, it seemed to be the most promising show to appear on the horizon since Coke Studio because it felt original. Plus, it made one thing very clear: the series would be about music (and fashion) with no other agenda including trying to feed the country a vigorous dosage of nationalism under the guise of a music series.

There is a bigger discussion to be had on this idea, but we will come back to it after the branded music show season is over.

The first two songs from Velo Sound Station released in 2023 were originally meant for the debut season. The artist in question, Asim Azhar, couldn’t be a part of the debut season though, because of his age and the fact the Velo is a nicotine substitute, and though it is an alternative to cigarettes, it is not risk-free nor non-addictive. Ergo, any artist performing on the series had to be of a certain age. So now that Azhar qualifies for the minimum age bracket, his songs – ‘Sona Chandi’ and the cover of Sajjad Ali’s ‘Chahay Jis Shehr’ by Asim Azhar & Sara Haider – which were created under Bilal Maqsood for the debut season were released in 2023. But they do not exactly represent the on-going season.

Big bang theory

After a flock of promos, Velo Sound Station (season II) is here. And this is how it went. If you saw a glimpse of celebrities in the debut season cheering on the performers from a gallery, this edition of VSS 2 has opened with a song in which one of the more noticeable factors is superstar Mahira Khan bringing the kind of swag that is her and hers alone. She features in the first song which is called ‘Nakhray’ which is sung by Umair Jaswal x Ahsan Pervaiz. No, Khan is not singing but she’s brought an element of dance and confidence in what has been described by VSS 2 below its YouTube video, “as the party anthem of the season”. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. It is May so a lot more music is underway. A lot more will be determined as the year ends where we can truly state if it is “the party anthem” or merely carried a desperate desire to be one.

“It looks like Rohail Hyatt has built upon the ideas that Bilal Maqsood injected into the first season.Where Yasir Jaswal and Bilal Maqsood co-directed the first VSS season, Coke Studio veteran directors are helming VSS 2. Kamal Khan and Zeeshan
Parwez have taken charge as directors including directing ‘Nakhray’ together.”

Among other details, it looks like Rohail Hyatt has built upon the ideas that Bilal Maqsood injected into the first season. It is somewhat ironic since a similar switch happened years ago. Rohail Hyatt amicably left Coke Studio as executive producer after six seasons. Bilal Maqsood with Strings’ Faisal Kapadia helmed Coke Studio in the aftermath for four years as executive producer.

Some things will be the same; others are changing. Where Yasir Jaswal and Bilal Maqsood co-directed the first VSS season, Coke Studio veteran directors are helming VSS 2. Kamal Khan and Zeeshan Parwez have taken charge as directors including directing ‘Nakhray’ together. They also directed many of the refreshing Coke Studio 14 videos in 2022 but as solo directors.

Is it a good song? Yes. Is it full of swag, courtesy of Umair Jaswal and even the underrated Ahsan Pervaiz? Yes. But was this a smart choice and the right song to open the new season? Maybe, maybe not. It is very difficult to outshine Atif Aslam who opened the debut season of Velo Sound Station with the supremely addictive ‘Kadi Te Hans’ - even if ‘Nakhray’ does fall somewhere in the electropop genre and is a captivating song as you put it on repeat to see what – if anything – works or doesn’t.

The visual work did meet our expectations but with Zeeshan Parwez and Kamal Khan directing, that isn’t exactly surprising.

Artists such as Strings (who have gone solo), Abdullah Qur-eshi (who has shunned music) as well as Takatak, Aag and Sajjad Ali are not coming back but Velo Sound Station has replaced them swiftly with other popular additions.

Artists who will return after being a part of the first season include names such as Meesha Shafi, Atif Aslam, Aima Baig, Umair Jaswal, Natasha Noorani, Shamoon Ismail and Ahsan Pervaiz.

New additions include Young Stunners, Bilal Saeed, Hydr (Hai-der Mustehsan), Maanu, Asim Azhar, Ziggy, Zoha Zuberi, Rozeo and Mahira Khan.

Another major change this year is the clause of original songs. VSS 2 will not be releasing any covers. Yep, it does look rather appealing. Too good to be true? Not necessarily. Just when we were giving up on Coke Studio, they changed the game with Coke Studio 14 last year. But with the comeback of Velo Sound Station 2, the upcoming 15 season will face a greater challenge and might need to go back to the drawing board to recreate another memorable season. Unless everyone tanks during their VSS performance/song, which is kind of a stretch, it is already ahead of the game with its release timeline.

Adding to that, the show has an artist like Atif Aslam, who is the most popular artist in Pakistan based on Spotify stats. More people listen to his songs than any other artist in and of the country.

The entire line-up is worth commending since it also made way for indie artists. The futuristic, neon, infrared video feels like it is deliberately made that way and feels more arresting than its last iteration. If VSS’ debut season gave us strong visuals, the new season feels like the canvas just got bigger and things will be edgier.

This is not a show where traditional songs, folk artists will get a spot; this is a purely electropop show and has a very different vibe.

Maybe Coke Studio should lean on other directors such as Jamal Rahman (‘Kana Yaari’), Luke Azariah, Murtaza Niaz (‘Mehram’), and Zohaib Kazi (‘Dheem Tana’, Spotify’s RADAR mini-documentary ft. Taha G, (Coke Studio Explorer, Coke Studio 11) to fill the space left by Khan and Parwez. Or maybe Kamal Khan and Zeeshan Parwez will direct both shows but that sends a message that there is no one else to helm these larger-scale shows.

How both shows fare inevitably is a toss-up but we’re betting this season of Velo Sound Station will be a more ambitious effort than its preceding season; Velo has already made the first move with ‘Nakhray’.

Both shows now carry a modern vibe and how Coke Studio will continue its unspoken promise to cultural folk elements beyond symbolism will be worth observation. But, hey, music season in mainstream has just begun so who knows where we land at the end of the year.