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Arooj Aftab Interview: Best New Artist Nominee On \\\'Vulture Prince\\\'

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When I saw Arooj Aftab’s name flash across the Grammy nominations, sharing space with Olivia Rodrigo, Glass Animals, and Baby Keem under the Best New Artist category, I audibly hollered. Even if I still roll my eyes at the Grammy-definition of “new artist” (Aftab’s first album Bird Under Water came out in 2014, and her 2018 follow-up Siren Islands was similarly striking), that such heritage-drawn music has reached these levels of critical and cultural recognition — Aftab is the first Pakistani woman to be put up for an award by the Recording Academy — still feels significant to myself and other South Asian Americans. Vulture Prince, the Brooklyn musician’s breakthrough from last year, pulls from the Urdu ghazal tradition of longing poetry about love and loss, but infuses that sound with elements of several distinct styles including jazz, folk, and even reggae. Aftab and the esteemed band she assembled — encompassing guitar, harp, violin, double bass, and flugelhorn, among other diverse

Arooj Aftab Quits Her Day Job Skip to Content Interviews Arooj Aftab Quits Her Day Job PT By Pranav Trewn 11:05 AM EDT on April 1, 2022 Share on Facebook Share on Reddit Share on Email Share on Bluesky Blythe Thomas The Grammy Best New Artist nominee on her breakout Vulture Prince , bringing the ancient into the now, and forgoing guru-esque mystique in favor of "cursing and drinking whiskey and being a fucking idiot" When I saw Arooj Aftab's name flash across the Grammy nominations , sharing space with Olivia Rodrigo, Glass Animals, and Baby Keem under the Best New Artist category, I audibly h

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