Atif Aslam is, by the numbers, the biggest pop voice Pakistan has produced this century — a rock-band kid who became a subcontinental phenomenon, filling arenas on both sides of the border.
The essentials
His Coke Studio Tajdar-e-Haram is a modern classic — a naat that stops rooms. Then hear him trade lines with the Queen of Sufi music on Pardadari, and rework a folk kafi on Charkha Nolakha with Qayaas.
Where he sits
Atif came out of the same band-era wave as Jal and Strings, and stands alongside Ali Zafar as the face of modern Pakistani pop. For the story of how that scene was built, read our guide to the rise of Pakistani pop.