From radio stations in Islamabad to the nightclubs of Delhi and home events in Kathmandu, it’s a track that in latest months has been unimaginable to keep away from. As quickly because the distinctive opening claps of Pasoori, by the Pakistani singer Ali Sethi and his collaborator Shae Gill, are heard, it’s typically greeted with a roar of approval.

And it’s not simply in south Asia: because it was launched in February, the track, which pulls on conventional and fashionable musical influences, has gone on to turn into a worldwide phenomenon and one in every of Pakistan’s hottest musical exports for years. It has greater than 111m views on YouTube, it was the primary Pakistani track to prime Spotify’s international viral charts, and the primary Pakistani track to enter its official international songs chart.

Sethi, a classically skilled musician in addition to a singer, composer and fiction writer, has grown to be one in every of Pakistan’s hottest pop stars, although having lived within the US for the previous 5 years he has mentioned he sees himself extra as a “diasporic voice”.

The track has been heralded for transcending boundaries, significantly between India and Pakistan, persevering with an extended custom of tradition uniting the 2 nations the place politics at all times failed. In India, Pakistani soaps are among the many hottest tv reveals, whereas individuals in Pakistan avidly devour Bollywood movies and music.

Pasoori, which roughly interprets as “issue”, got here from Sethi’s encounters with the customarily unsurmountable partitions that exist between India and Pakistan, which stopped him from having the ability to go to and carry out in India. The lyrics draw on the age-old story of forbidden love, and are written in Punjabi, a language spoken in each India and Pakistan.

“It’s been a theme working in my life for a number of years; I’ve needed to have interaction with my Indian followers and associates by way of veils, lest we draw the eye of extremist components whose job is to keep up the inflexible boundary between India and Pakistan,” Sethi mentioned. “So I’d been mulling the theme of prohibition for a lot of months.”

He emphasised that the classical and people traditions on which the track attracts, together with the Sufi traditions of Qawwali music, had come about lengthy earlier than partition and so couldn’t be codified as both Indian or Pakistani, and had centuries-long roots on either side of the border.

He mentioned he had wished to write down a track that “felt classical but additionally related to modern life”, however admitted he had no concept it might turn into so standard throughout the area.

The track has additionally turn into a sufferer of its personal success. Many have identified that Sethi’s privilege – he’s from an elite, educated household in Lahore, was educated at Harvard and now lives in New York – has given him and his music a platform not afforded to many different Pakistan artists.

Rafay Mahmood, a author on south Asian music, mentioned: “Now we have quite a few very well-versed, younger and skilled classical singers however they will’t entry the Gen Z marker which Ali can do, as a result of their lack of cosmopolitan publicity and in some instances schooling.”

Nevertheless, Mahmood mentioned the track was to be celebrated for Sethi “discovering his personal voice” and for efficiently weaving in conventional south Asian musical motifs with standard digital dance beats.

“Pakistani songs have travelled throughout the border and it’s not the primary time,” he added. “Pasoori shouldn’t be a press release or a political anthem. It’s a well-produced, catchy track. Nothing else, nothing extra.”

Pasoori was launched by way of Coke Studios, an influential Pakistani tv programme and musical franchise, which since 2008 has invited among the nation’s hottest and revered musicians to write down tracks and carry out them reside. The songs which have come out of Coke Studios are consumed as a lot by Indian listeners as Pakistani, and the franchise has performed an important position in bringing Pakistani music to worldwide audiences. Sethi has carried out on 5 Coke Studios collection since 2015, and Pasoori is his largest hit from it but.

Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, referred to as Xulfi, the producer and curator of this latest season of Coke Studio, mentioned the second he had heard Pasoori “I felt the thrill dashing by way of me. I advised him [Sethi] that when individuals will hearken to this, they gained’t know what hit them and that this track has the potential to go international.”

Xulfi mentioned the recognition of Pasoori had “opened the worldwide door of affection” in direction of Pakistani pop music and “the chance to frequent the charts has opened up too”.

“In all honesty, I’m very excited for the long run as a result of I do know Pakistan has the power to shock the world,” he mentioned. “And to ensure we hold doing that, we have to hold conveying our progressive and inventive facet to the world.”