Arooj Aftab
Arooj Aftab is a Brooklyn-based Pakistani American singer, composer and producer whose Urdu and English songs bring together jazz, minimalism and South Asian musical traditions.
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Latest
Arooj’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Verve Records
Verve RecordsOverview
- Based in
- Brooklyn, New York
- Work
- Singer, composer and producer
- Education
- Berklee College of Music, class of 2010
- Breakout
- Vulture Prince (2021)
- Grammy win
- Best Global Music Performance for “Mohabbat” (2022)
Mini bio
How it started.
Growing up in Lahore, Arooj taught herself guitar and began imagining new arrangements of the songs she loved. An online music scholarship helped her study through Berkleemusic before she moved to Boston for Berklee’s campus program. She graduated in 2010 and later settled in New York.
Finding her sound.
Bird Under Water arrived in 2015, followed by the ambient electronic Siren Islands in 2018. Her 2021 album Vulture Prince, dedicated to her younger brother Maher, brought a wider audience to her music. Its song “Mohabbat” won Best Global Music Performance in 2022, making her the first Pakistani woman to win a Grammy.
Making room for more.
In 2023 she co-created Love in Exile with pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. Night Reign followed in 2024, moving through nocturnal romance, jazz and South Asian musical traditions. Across these records, her voice stays close to the listener while the arrangements leave room for her collaborators.
Creditschronological, newest first
- 2026Fire on the WaterCollaborating vocalist with Bonobo
- 2026Lilac Wine, on HELP(2)Performer with Beck
- 2025raat ki rani (Sylvan Esso Remix)Vocalist and songwriter
- 2025raat ki rani (Khruangbin Remix)Vocalist and songwriter
- 2024Night ReignSolo artist
- 2023Love in ExileCo-creator and vocalist with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily
- 2021Vulture PrinceSinger, composer and producer
- 2018Siren IslandsSolo artist
- 2015Bird Under WaterSolo artist
Awards
- 2025 Grammy nominationsBest Alternative Jazz Album for Night Reign and Best Global Music Performance for “Raat Ki Rani.”
- 2024 Grammy nominationsBest Alternative Jazz Album for Love in Exile and Best Global Music Performance for “Shadow Forces,” with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily.
- 2023 Grammy nominationBest Global Music Performance for “Udhero Na,” with Anoushka Shankar.
- 2022 Grammy AwardWon Best Global Music Performance for “Mohabbat”; also nominated for Best New Artist.
Quotes
I make the music that I want to hear that I can't find anywhere.Arooj Aftab, Berklee Today
In her spring 2026 alumni interview, she explained the impulse behind her sound.
Trivia
- She likes video games as well as working with audio gear, as she told Berklee in 2026.
- Vulture Prince had its own perfume oil, created by perfumer Dana El Masri as a scent companion to the album.
- “Baghon Main” appears on both Bird Under Water and Vulture Prince, with a new composition on the later album.
- Tessa Thompson directed the music video for “Raat Ki Rani.”
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