The sole Indian on the list is Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, however someone from Canada made the list as a result of the song’s enormous popularity. With the help of the Punjabi song “Pasoori,” Pakistani musician Ali Sethi unexpectedly made it onto Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Next People to Watch. The song was created for Season 14 of Coke Studio Pakistan.
Despite the escalating hostilities between the two countries, Sethi and Shae Gill’s song Pasoori has gained a tonne of support in India and amassed almost 400 million YouTube views. Eventually, the first Pakistani song to chart on Spotify’s “Viral 50 – Global” chart reached the top.
Sethi’s greatest talent is his ability to employ the classical raga, a traditional musical genre from the area, to question and broaden ideas about gender, sexuality, and belonging. According to Time, Ali Sethi’s “Pasoori” is a masterful example of how artists may transcend the limitations that new forms of authoritarianism and intolerance are placing on them.
Sethi attended Harvard College from 2002 to 2006. He initially intended to major in Economics, but he ultimately changed to South Asian Studies. Along with contributing to The Harvard Advocate’s features board, Sethi annually performed for Ghungroo, the largest student-run programme at Harvard that focuses on the South Asian diaspora. Recently, Ali Sethi visited Harvard to perform the smash hit.
