Rakae Jamil on Coke Studio 11 learnings

In retrospect, Rakae Jamil of Mughal-e-Funk, who has appeared on multiple seasons of Coke Studio as a sitar player and was a member of the audio team in 2018, in addition to featuring with his band, Mughal-e-Funk, admits that the release of ‘Ko Ko Korina’ (sung by Momina Mustehsan and Ahad Raza Mir) and the controversy that followed ended up cannibalizing their song ‘Aurangzeb’. It released in the same episode and is featured on their debut album – which has since been released.“Because Coke Studio is so big, the expectations to deliver what people want, I don’t think it’s possible, ever. The criticism is not always about the music. Sometimes, it’s about the persona, it’s about presentation. The criticism, from our audience, needs to be more constructive,” said Rakae referring to the controversy that was born out of ‘Ko Ko Korina’, in retrospect.“Every artist puts in their hard-work,” he continued. “It’s not about who deserves more credit and who deserves less. Everyone is contributing artistically in whatever way. Because of the fact that the 2018 season had new producers – and in the end the brand wants to see success, hits, likes and more responses from the audience, I think perhaps, to be safe, that is why they banked on giving multiple appearances to known names. That’s my interpretation. Music, I feel, doesn’t take the forefront in the way that it should. There are too many factors that are kept in consideration.”He added: “People feel entitled to share their opinion, no matter how biased or crass. That needs to change, that’s being irresponsible and I haven’t seen it in any other country. That approach needs to change. Bad art is produced in other countries but people act as if it’s become a national situation and act violently towards it - that makes no sense to me.”

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/2Wwst2Y