ahore-based singer, songwriter, rapper and producer Maanu is quite possibly one of the underdogs of music today. His ability to release good, memorable music is often overlooked, particularly when he collaborates with other artists as popular as Ali Sethi, Shae Gill, Hasan Raheem and Talal Qureshi.

But 2023 is emerging as the year of acknowledgment for Maanu. In the second season of Velo Sound Station, which made a comeback after two years, Maanu delivered one of the best songs of the season with the inimitable ‘Spicy’ (with Rozeo).

If that doesn’t convince you of his distinctiveness and the variety of genres he can play around with, remember that
he has released Yain City (with eight songs), Sakuna Matata (with six songs), and a number of solo and collaborative singles including ‘Left Right’, ‘4U’, ‘Kidhar’, and ‘Baad Ki Baatein’. He has also appeared on albums from other exciting artists including Abdullah Siddiqui and Talal Qureshi’s 2023 record, Turbo.

It isn’t surprising that he is the poster boy for Spotify initiative, RADAR, as it marks its first-year run in Pakistan.

One major thing to note is that Maanu, who was last quarter’s RADAR artist, is going places.

In addition to a digital billboard at Times Square, New York City, he will also be seen on billboards placed at four other locations: Penn Plaza, New York, The Reef, Los Angeles, Leicester Square, London, and Cardiff, Wales.

The RADAR Fest event will take place in Lahore at LUMS, which will feature all RADAR Pakistan artists.

Footnote: RADAR’s present artist is the duo Hassan & Roshaan who have developed a huge fan following across Pakistan in the last year or so.