Eva B reveals the story behind her hit track and shares an important message for fans. Photo: Eva B
Eva B reveals the story behind her hit track and shares an important message for fans. Photo: Eva B
Eva B reveals the story behind her hit track and shares an important message for fans. Photo: Eva B
Eva B reveals the story behind her hit track and shares an important message for fans. Photo: Eva B

Pakistani 'Ms Marvel' rapper Eva B: I'm more than just my niqab


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Episode one of the Disney+ show Ms Marvel is a thrilling display of culture and faith.

Some viewers have criticised the series for not being relatable enough, or too niche (read: Pakistani and Muslim), but it still has plenty of fans as it's currently the highest-scoring Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series, with online user reviews surpassing every other MCU movie, too. It even tops Black Panther, according to a recent Forbes report.

Scroll through the gallery below to see scenes from 'Ms Marvel'

The show shares the experiences of Muslim teen superhero Kamala Khan in New Jersey, US — played by Pakistani-Canadian actress Iman Vellani. It is exactly what makes the show so unique, diverse and highly rated by this American-Pakistani writer.

As the first episode came to a close, I was in awe of how scriptwriters had woven cultural references into the storyline — from passages and prayers from the Quran to Urdu dialogue and music.

Then the credits rolled and I was completely won over with a punchy Urdu rap track Rozi by the Pakistani female rapper known as Eva B.

She is one of many Muslim women who are making their voices heard in spite of their faces being veiled. Saudi niqab-wearing influencer Amy Roko, for instance, also raps, and the past few years have seen a rise in niqabi creatives who are seeking to rectify stereotypes about face veils on social media.

But Eva laments the fact that the media coverage resulting from her song’s appearance on Ms Marvel has, for the most part, focused on her niqab.

“For no reason, these people are giving the niqab all this hype. They think niqabi girls don’t do anything. But I’m just as normal as any other regular girl here. There’s no need for the hype, I really don’t like it,” Eva, 23, tells The National.

“Nobody is forcing me to wear it. It’s my own decision to. It’s good that I can go out and about without being recognised.”

Rozi was produced with Los Angeles-based composer and singer Gingger Shankar. It was first created in 2019 and then reproduced for Ms Marvel.

“Gingger messaged and said the Ms Marvel team were asking for our track Rozi for their first episode, so we remade it,” says Eva, who wrote and rapped the lyrics about courage and confidence in the face of adversity.

“Whatever issues I’m having, or problems I’m facing, I write them into my lyrics — I empty my heart out into my lyrics,” Eva says.

She first started rapping at the age of 15, citing Eminem’s hit tracks Lose Yourself and Love the Way You Lie as some of her inspirations. She records lyrics in both Urdu and Balochi, an Iranian language spoken by those from the ethnic region of Balochistan.

Speaking in Urdu from her neighbourhood in Lyari, a densely populated part of Karachi, she says she noticed a spike in her fame after collaborating in a Coke Studio Pakistan song that aired on Pakistani TV in January.

The track, Kana Yaari, features her rapping in Balochi vocals, and sporting a bright orange outfit and matching niqab in the video. “After Coke Studio, the world came to know about me. The girl from Lyari who raps,” she says.

Yet, she has remained largely under the radar when out in public.

She keeps her face veiled in public, photos and performances, practising purdah — the wearing of a burka or abaya with a face covering.

“My brother said I should wear it while rapping so nobody could recognise me,” she explains. “I wear it generally, it’s our culture here in Lyari, it’s just my life, I don’t leave the house without my burka.”

Eva B in the studio. Photo: Eva B
Eva B in the studio. Photo: Eva B

Some ultra-conservative critics in Pakistan have questioned Eva for using her voice publicly.

“Lots of people commented and said a girl’s voice should also have purdah, blah blah blah,” says Eva. "It isn’t possible to please everyone."

She advises fellow South Asian women, who might be struggling to find a balance between societal norms and their own passions, to simply follow their dreams and drown out the critics.

“The world will keep talking, no matter who you are,” she says. “If you don’t do anything, they say: ‘She isn’t doing anything’, and if you do something, they say: ‘She’s doing too much'.

"Don’t listen to it. If someone says you need to become a tailor, but you want to become a model, focus on becoming a model, not a tailor. Whatever makes you happy, do that.”

Her words reflect the theme behind her Rozi lyrics, as well as the empowering messages conveyed in the first two episodes of Ms Marvel.

Unfortunately, Eva still hasn’t had a chance to start watching the series due to streaming limitations with Disney+, although the first two episodes are set to debut in cinemas across Pakistan this Thursday.

Meanwhile, many Marvel fans in the UAE, where Disney+ has recently launched, continue to wait for the platform to fix some of its streaming issues so that they, too, can witness the debut of Marvel’s first Muslim superhero — along with the incredible feat of this modest female rapper from Karachi.

Scroll through the gallery below to see Iman Vellani and co-stars at the 'Ms Marvel' premiere

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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Quick%20facts
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EStorstockholms%20Lokaltrafik%20(SL)%20offers%20free%20guided%20tours%20of%20art%20in%20the%20metro%20and%20at%20the%20stations%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20tours%20are%20free%20of%20charge%3B%20all%20you%20need%20is%20a%20valid%20SL%20ticket%2C%20for%20which%20a%20single%20journey%20(valid%20for%2075%20minutes)%20costs%2039%20Swedish%20krone%20(%243.75)%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ETravel%20cards%20for%20unlimited%20journeys%20are%20priced%20at%20165%20Swedish%20krone%20for%2024%20hours%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAvoid%20rush%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20between%209.30%20am%20and%204.30%20pm%20%E2%80%93%20to%20explore%20the%20artwork%20at%20leisure%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company%20Profile
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
  • Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
  • Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
  • Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
  • Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
  • Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
TOURNAMENT INFO

Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November

UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Updated: June 24, 2022, 10:08 AM`