His most recent single, ‘Introduction,’ may imply that he intends to release a long-awaited album, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Faris Shafi, the highly brilliant, furious, foul-mouthed rap musician, has discreetly released two new tracks, ‘Introduction’ and ‘Molotov.’ The title of the first song suggests that Faris intends to release a wider body of material. Is it a long-awaited album? We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m betting on an album or, at the absolute least, an EP (a lesser version of an album).
The first song from Faris’ releases this year, ‘Introduction,’ continues the gloomy atmosphere from his last release, ‘Nazar,’ which has already received over 1.4 million views.
‘Introduction’ showcases Faris’ rap vocal ability. He delivers rap lines with ease, constantly maintaining a tight flow, as if he’s attempting to express a lot in a short period of time, seeming fun one minute and serious and caustic the next.
Intriguingly, the clip for Introduction is comparable to that of Nazar in that, whereas Nazar was shot up in the mountain peaks of Gilgit Baltistan — Faris in the midst of its virtually infinite vast expanse, giving the appearance of him being alone and disconnected — ‘Introduction’ was shot in the rocky terrain of Balochistan. Its sandstone cliffs and slopes are offset by turquoise pools of water formed by subterranean streams. Faris is also alone and lonely here, in both the extreme north and the far south-west of the nation.
Faris Shafi’s ‘Introduction’ maintains the same melancholy feeling and solitude as his last album, Nazar.
‘Introduction’s’ music is largely consisting of two chords performed on the piano with a brief part on loop and a sluggish electronic rhythm aimed at establishing a slower tempo to the music as opposed to Faris’ vocals — almost as if Faris intentionally wants to create a contrast. Nearly as if the music were the peaks or the surroundings he’s in – continuous, slow to the point of being immovable, motionless, and he stands out as the only moving item.
It’s difficult to discover lyrics in a Faris Shafi song that don’t contain vulgarity. However, the song’s meaning is conveyed in the next verse and melody. The Faris we have now is post-jaded, resurrecting, coming to terms with both the terrible and the good this society has to give, mocking worldly ideals but still exhibiting tremendous compassion.
“Leave the meat on the seekh kebab/ Turn up the volume on the speaker system/ A wave of people educated me about corruption/ Leikin yeh to hai introduction/ I saw the emotion meray lafz [my words]/ It appears to me to be/ A reduction, a collection/ A collection of repressed emotions/ I got the potion/ Oh s***, your ship is sinking/ And you know what I’m thinking/ Main soch raha hoon ke… [I’m thinking…]
Then comes a portion of the chorus verse: Ehsaas-e -kamtari ki/ Misalain ban chuki thee/ Alfredo fettuccini Aur red ho Lamborghini/ Aur ek dabba Shahi Sipari hai…
Faris is well-known in the independent music community and beyond. He’s great, but I’m curious when he’ll work with his moody-but-in-a-different-way sister Meesha Shafi? While his renowned sister makes music that is almost ethereal (‘Main,’ ‘Leela,’) it would be intriguing to see what sort of music this sibling combination would produce together.
One can only hope that this partnership occurs sooner rather than later.
