When Zayn Malik wants to collaborate, it's best to jump at the opportunity.
Since departing One Direction in 2015 to pursue a solo career, Malik has collaborated sparingly with other artists, contributing his talents to just five tracks. These include a 2016 remix of Chris Brown's RnB hit Back to Sleep and the 2019 song Rumors by Latin-American singer Sabrina Claudio.
Malik's latest collaboration, his first guest vocal in five years, is arguably his most personal yet. He was born to a Pakistani father and British mother and the new version of 2023 hit Tu Hai Kahan by Aur – there was one previously released without Malik's contribution – has him singing in Urdu for the first time.
It has given Aur the kind of global profile they could have only dreamt off when they formed in Karachi in 2020. Speaking to The National, the trio reaffirmed their intention to make the Urdu language part of the global pop music conversation.
“It is time for Urdu to shine,” says singer Usama Ali. “This is really what motivates us because it’s a beautiful language rich in meaning and poetry. But it doesn’t have the major profile that Hindi, for example, has because the Pakistani entertainment industry is not as powerful as India's. So, for Zayn Malik to actually ask us if he could collaborate was amazing. We were excited because he was excited.”
As manager Ameen Haq tells it, working with Malik is pretty straight forward: “You don’t call him. He calls you.” Contact was made late last year, when the song already topped the Spotify charts in Pakistani and India.
“Zayn went on a FaceTime call with Aur and he was so encouraging and told the guys how it made him fall in love with the Urdu language,” Haq recalled. “So, when it came time to do a collaboration with him, he was adamant that he wanted to sing in Urdu and he told us how he took Urdu classes to nail it.”
It is time for Urdu to shine. This is really what motivates us because it’s a beautiful language rich in meaning and poetry
Member Usama Ali
The fresh version, released in January is more dynamic than the original, Malik’s high tenor offsetting the understated melodic rapping by Ali and Ahad Khan. However, that winning ethereal production by third member Raffey Anwar, with its ambient keyboards and sparse guitar, remains.
“It's a new sound that people don’t expect from Pakistan and that’s really because there is no real sound that you can say that it’s ours,” Anwar says. “For example, the most popular music in Pakistan is folk music which is only heard inside the country. But there is no particular genre from Pakistan that has gone global and this is really what we want to build.”
It is that mix of ambition and commitment that drew Haq to manage the group last year, merely weeks after Tu Hai Kahan was building a slow and steady online buzz. He admits he wasn’t initially a fan of the song due to its languid structure.
“It is nearly five minutes long and the verses are nearly two minutes each, so from a strictly analytical point of view, it just wasn't supposed to work,” he says. “But I realised that I was just using my head. Once I allowed myself to just feel it, the song just touches the heart because it is so beautiful and poetic.”
Ali, who views himself as more of a poet than singer, recalls the group being confident of the lyrics. Tu Hai Kahan, which means “where have you gone”, is about a person's quest for true love with all of life's twists and turns.
“The lyrics are conversational and the kind of Urdu you would hear every day,” Ali says. “We wanted the song to feel like we are just talking to you directly, so I was not really concerned about making things rhyme. I just wanted to make people feel something … if they understand the language or not.”
Khan adds: “Everyone relates to it in different ways. Whether it’s just from the chilled sounds to the lyrics. The song could be talking about their partner or it could be about someone trying to find their purpose after losing a parent. It means different things to different people.”
When it comes to the wider industry, Tu Hai Kahan’s success also has the music industry taking note. With Pakistan having the sixth largest diaspora community, according to the World Economic forum, it can also be a potentially lucrative slice of the touring market.
All eyes will be on Aur as they join Pakistani singer Asim Zahar on an eight-date US tour organised by Live Nation. The group have a new single called Jeet Ki Awaz and Ali says the best is yet to come from Pakistani musicians.
“It's an honour because we want to help open these doors for other Pakistani artists in the future,” Ali says. “Some big promoters don't know how to do Urdu concerts professionally and internationally. We want to show them that anything is possible.”
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Other IPL batting records
Most sixes: 292 – Chris Gayle
Most fours: 491 – Gautam Gambhir
Highest individual score: 175 not out – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)
Highest strike-rate: 177.29 – Andre Russell
Highest strike-rate in an innings: 422.22 – Chris Morris (for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017)
Highest average: 52.16 – Vijay Shankar
Most centuries: 6 – Chris Gayle
Most fifties: 36 – Gautam Gambhir
Fastest hundred (balls faced): 30 – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)
Fastest fifty (balls faced): 14 – Lokesh Rahul (for Kings XI Punjab against Delhi Daredevils in 2018)
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
