Ali Sethi makes it to Time100 Next list of rising stars

KARACHI: Nearly a 100 years old, TIME is one of the OGs of American magazines. Every year, it also releases its very own list of 100 most influential people. Another honour that it bestows upon talented individuals from around the world is the Time100 Next list which includes rising stars from various walks of life. And of course, 2022 being the year of Pakistani artists, our very own Ali Sethi has made it to the Time100 Next list this time.

Ali Sethi shared the news on his Instagram with an excerpt from the TIME website by Amitav Ghosh. The writeup specially mentions Sethi’s latest hit with Shae Gill, 'Pasoori', and reads, “Though written in Punjabi by a Pakistani artist, Ali Sethi’s song ‘Pasoori’ has become a global sensation with close to 400 million views on YouTube. Even more remarkable, the song has found a huge following in neighbouring India despite the escalating tensions between the two countries.” Since its release earlier this year, ‘Pasoori’ has also found itself an African remix.

Elaborating more on Sethi’s strengths as an artist, the description highlights how his “great gift is that he is able to use an ancient form of music from the region, the classical raga, to challenge and expand notions of gender, sexuality and belonging.”