Pakistani music has come a long way in the past fifteen years. We have seen many pop groups and singers come up and have witnessed quite a few fade into oblivion. The singing industry has never witnessed a boom like now. Pop singers of today have elevated the standards set by people like Alamgir, Shehki, and Nazia & Zohaib. The trend of forming a band caught on in the early nineties with advent of Vital Signs and programs like Music Channel Charts. Many one hit wonders surfaced and drowned without creating any major ripples in the local music scene. Most of them did not believe in acquiring any training first. They met, jotted down lyrics, and used gadgets to come up with a melody. They set upon their journey to prominence only to find themselves quagmire later.
When everyone was busy concentrating on a short-lived career, there was one who obtained classical training and progressed steadily, but surely. He did not believe in making haste and fading out like his colleagues. His name was Sajjad Ali who is one of the three most talented pop singers of our county.
He has endeavored ever since “Babia” to give us quality music in form of “Chief Saab”, “Moody”, and “Aik Aur Love Story”. His songs are different and some, like “Chief Saab”,have even stirred controversies. Sajjad projected the street gangs in the lyrics and video of this song. After a while, newspapers reported that some goons abducted him in retaliation and shaved his head. Sajjad denied it and resurfaced after two months.
Classical base gives Sajjad an advantage that other singers enjoy him for: he can sing for hours on end without complaining of a sour throat. He further endears himself to his fans both locall and internationally by mostly singing live during concerts. One thing that Saiiad Ali and a few other singers need to concentrate on is that they should hire lyricists to write for them. They can pull it off in a song or two but by writing all songs themselves, the overall impact is not good. The easiest way to find out if lyrics of a song are good or not is to write down the lyrics and read them: if it appeals to you aesthetically: without music, they are good enough.
Saiiad Ali has recently released an album "Cinderella" which is his eighth pop album. He has experimented with quite a few ideas again and has included both fast and slow tracks. The lyrics are by him and his brother, Waqar Ali. He also hired Sabir Zafar to write lyrics of a few songs. Some of the best in the whole collection are "Panyoon Main", "Sanwaar Day" and "Pyar Hai". The lyrics, compositions and ideas in these songs are outstanding. The remaining songs have worth appreciating contents too.
Its always a pleasure listening to Sajjad Ali. His fans definitely want him to stage more live performances, especially in Lahore