Vulture Prince is the third album by Pakistani musician Arooj Aftab , released by New Amsterdam Records on April 23, 2021.[ 1] Thematically, the album discusses stories of people, relationships, and lost moments and is dedicated to the memory of her younger brother, Maher.[ 2] "Mohabbat" won the Best Global Music Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards .[ 3]
Critical reception
Bhanuj Kappal of Pitchfork called the album a "heartbreaking, exquisite document of the journey from grief to acceptance."[ 5]
Vulture Prince was named the best album of 2021 by Netherlands newspaper de Volkskrant , topping their year-end list.[ 7] Brenna Ehrlich ranked the album sixth on Rolling Stone ' s "Best Music of 2021" staff list.[ 8] It was ranked number twenty by The Guardian on their list of the "50 best albums of 2021", and Laura Snapes named Aftab "[t]he year's biggest musical revelation".[ 9] While Vulture Prince did not rank on the Los Angeles Times ' top ten "Best Albums of 2021", it was, however, included on their "15 deserving albums" list.[ 10]
Barack Obama selected the song "Mohabbat" from this album as one of his summer playlist favorites for 2021.[ 11] "Mohabbat" was called one of the best songs of 2021 by Time and The New York Times .[ 12] [ 13] "Mohabbat" won the Best Global Music Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards .[ 3]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Arooj Aftab , except where noted
Title Lyrics 1. "Baghon Main" (featuring Darian Donovan Thomas) 6:44 2. "Diya Hai" (featuring Badi Assad ) 5:40 3. "Inayaat" 7:47 4. "Last Night" 5:58 5. "Mohabbat" Hafeez Hoshiarpuri 7:42 6. "Saans Lo" Annie Ali Khan 7:31 7. "Suroor" 5:12 Total length: 46:34
Personnel
Arooj Aftab – songwriting, vocals, production
Maeve Gilchrist – harp (1, 3, 5)
Darian Donovan Thomas – violin (1, 3)
Petros Klampanis – double bass (1), piano (3), double bass (3)
Badi Assad - guitar (2)
Magda Giannikou – arrangement (2)
Juliette Jones – strings arrangement (2)
Rootstock Republic – strings (2)
Juliette Jones – violin (2)
Lady Jess – violin (2)
Jarvis Benson – viola (2)
Malcolm Parson – cello (2)
Nadje Noordhuis – flugelhorn (3, 5)
Bhrigu Sahni – guitar (4)
Mario Carrillio – double bass (4)
Jörn Bielfeldt – drums (4)
Jamey Haddad – percussion (5)
Gyan Riley – guitar (5)
Shahzad Ismaily – synth (5, 6)
Kenji Herbert – guitar (6)
Annie Ali Khan – lyrics (6)
Joshua Valleau – mixing, engineering
Damon Whittemore – mastering
Vishesh Sharma – photography
Anum Awan – photo editing
Micah Blacklight – album artwork
Vandana Jain – art direction, design
Charts
References
↑ "The 10 Albums We're Most Excited About in April" . Paste . March 29, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021 .
↑ "Video Premiere: 'Diya Hai' Performed by Arooj Aftab and Badi Assad" . I Care If You Listen . April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021 .
↑ 3.0 3.1 "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List" . GRAMMY.com . 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2021-11-27 .
↑ Mulvey, John (July 2021). "Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince: An extraordinary new voice from Pakistan via Brooklyn". Mojo . No. 332. p. 80.
↑ 5.0 5.1 Kappal, Bhanuj (March 31, 2022). "Arooj Aftab: Vulture Prince Album Review" . Pitchfork . Retrieved April 3, 2022 .
↑ Richards, Sam (August 2021). "Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince: Spellbinding east-meets-west concoction. Comes withits own perfume oil!". Uncut . No. 291. p. 21.
↑ van Gijssel, Robert; Kerkhof, Merlijn (20 December 2021). "Dit zijn de 40 beste albums van 2021" [These are the 40 best albums of 2021]. de Volkskrant (in Nederlands). Amsterdam . Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021 .
↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (December 23, 2021). "Best Music of 2021: Staff Picks" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022 .
↑ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Snapes, Laura (December 1, 2021). "The 50 best albums of 2021" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022 .
↑ Pareles, Jon ; Caramanica, Jon ; Zoladz, Lindsay (December 2, 2021). "Best Albums of 2021" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022 .
↑ "Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab makes it to Barack Obama's Summer Playlist" . Dawn . July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
↑ Andrew, R. Chow; Raisa, Bruner (May 26, 2021). "The Best Songs of 2021 So Far" . Time . Archived from the original on June 1, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022 .
↑ Pareles, Jon ; Caramanica, Jon ; Russonello, Giovanni (April 23, 2021). "Weezer's Rock 'n' Roll Nostalgia Trip, and 10 More New Songs" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022 .
↑ "Ultratop.be – Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved July 2, 2022.
↑ "Swisscharts.com – Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince" . Hung Medien. Retrieved July 3, 2022.