Thread by @MushtaqBilal3

I teach a course on #Pakistani #Literature at @binghamtonu. This time around I started every class with playing a song on @YouTube.

This served various pedagogical purposes and also helped latecomers 😂

Here's the list of songs we listened to this semester
🧵

1. #Punjabi folk + West coast rap

Kandyaari-ae haey tere do nain...
Chakwal Group and @iambohemia @cokestudio

2. #Punjabi Tappe by one of the most beautiful Punjabi couples: Veena and Anant @anantkiveena

When it comes to tappe, national borders don't mean shit

3. Manqabat (in #persian )
Saqi-e-Bawafa by Saakin (these boys are killin' it)
while introducing them to the poetic genres of hamd, na'at, and manqabat

4. To show my students the global reach of the #qawwali as a genre.

Plus @SamiYusuf's Punjabi pronunciation is so cute ❤️❤️❤️

Sami Yusuf – Mast Qalandar | Live in London

5. #Gospel Song in #Urdu by the super-talented Faraz Nayer

While reading Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by @mohammedhanif

6. Tamasha by the wonderful band Khumaariyan


To introduce them to the rabab
#instrumental #rabab

7. Boom Boom by the evergreen Nazia Hassan

Breaks my heart that she died do young 💔💔💔

8. Another manqabat because some of them forgot about what a manqabat was 😂😂😂

Lajpaal Ali by the inimitable @asrarmusic
via @YouTube

9. Komolay Nritto Kore (in Bangla) by TAPOSH FEAT. JASMINE & RESHMI

while talking about 1971, and reading "Noor" by @SorayyaKhan

10. Nizamuddin Auliya (in Bangla) TAPOSH FEAT. OYSHEE

Dhonno dhonno mera silsila elo
Dilli te Nizamuddin Awulia elo ❤️❤️❤️

11. BURI HOILAM TOR KARONE (in Bangla) - TAPOSH FEAT. KANGALINI SUFIA

12. Nasek Nasek (a Hajong song) | Coke Studio Bangla | Season One | Animes Roy X Pantho Kanai

Hajong is a native tribe in the northeastern Indian and northern parts of Bangladesh.

Contemporary music coming out of Bangladesh is 🔥🔥🔥

12. National Lutheran Choir's rendition of A. R. Rahman's Zikr

It's so interesting to see people singing about the oneness of God while wearing a cross 🤔

13. #Mujra by the beautiful and inspiring Mehak Malik

Considered uncouth and morally questionable by Pakistani urban middle classes, mujra dances remain very popular both in urban and rural areas of Pakistan.

14. Straight Outta Karachi: Lyari Underground Gangsta Rap

The underdogs from Lyari

15. The wonderful @arooj_aftab's Grammy wining "Mohabbat" (Live Performance)

16. Azan by Qari Hammad ullah Sajid

When I told them about the first muezzin in Islam, Bilal Ibn Rabah.

17. Kana Yaari by Kaifi Khalil x Eva B x Abdul Wahab Bugti

When we talked about #EnforcedDisappearances in #Balochistan

Love Eva B's swag. Rapping with the niqab on.

18. The Justin Bibis who are the definition of hustle

19. Some more rabab

Rabab Jugalbandi by Amjad Malang

20. The 99 name of Allah: Asma ul husna recited at Karbala

21. And of course, Mirabai's famous #bhajan Sansoon Ki Mala sung by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

22. It's an attempt to imagine and teach literature a bit differently. Would love to know what you think of it @sabizak @Sauliloquy1

23. @agypsysince92 rightly pointed out that I didn't include any Sindhi songs.
The semester is still not over, so I've assigned my students two wonderful songs in Sindhi.

Streams of Soan (feat. Sameer Laghari) - Tiri Pawanda
suggested by @hasabs1214

24. And Faqeera by Shamu Bai and Vishnu

Thank you @agypsysince92 for pointing it out, and giving me the opportunity to reflect on my own biases 🙏

25. A song that I forgot earlier is Zeek Afridi's Bibi Shireenay

Used this song during a discussion on Pakistani and American stereotypes of Pashtuns.