Shafis drop the mic with Coke Studio's latest 'Muaziz Sarif'

In a first, sibling duo come together to churn out an 'unusual' track.

Last night, Coke Studio dropped Muaziz Sarif, the latest offering from its 14th installment that puts together the sibling duo Meesha and Faris Shafi, in a first. Xulfi’s idea of pairing the two was to create an “unusual track,” as per the song’s press release.

It is provocative with thorns under its pop sheen. A union of “two worlds” under the banner of CS, the number sees Faris and Meesha let loose in a dramatic fashion. Muaziz Saarif is a gloves-off sucker punch to haters as the siblings claim their journeys fiercely in style.

Written by Meesha and Faris, Muaziz Sarif has been composed by the siblings alongside Xulfi, while Action Zain and Abdullah Siddiqui have arranged the track and co-produced it with the Hum Zalmi hitmaker.

Zain and Abdullah’s soundscape has the energy of a storm gathering. In Muaziz Saarif, they stitch their styles together in a precise patchwork, switching between tempos to mirror different moods. Zain’s clean, brittle drums are offset by a tabla, mimicking Faris’ rat-a-tat delivery. While Abdullah’s orchestral touches let Meesha’s voice spin and fly.

Faris’ “helloo” sample is a battle cry. While Meesha’s natural ability to swap between soaring notes and scorching Punjabi rhymes adds to the variation offered by the song. The performers also use wordplay true to their individual styles. Faris takes his shots nonchalantly while Meesha attacks head on. The producers have included real elements of the performers’ personalities to make the song more personal.

Taking to his Instagram, Abdullah penned an appreciation post for the song. “This was a difficult song to make — here we have two explosive, wildly original artists at the top of their game, who sonically have absolutely nothing in common,” he admitted. “Xulfi and I came in with our experience producing for Meesha, and Action Zain, whose arrangement sensibility is ingenious, came in with his experience producing for Faris, and what resulted was a song that sounds like so many different lifetimes of musical influence. And yet, it is so cohesive in its own unique way. That’s how we found our sonic common ground,” added the Magenta Cyan maker.

“But more importantly, our thematic common ground was found in Faris and Meesha’s common ground as people: their utter fearlessness in their art and in their lives. And I’m so proud to be part of a song that celebrates that,” he concluded.

According to Abdullah, Muaziz Sarif was one of those tracks that everyone would start jumping to while jamming. "It’s just so big and catchy with great pop energy," the press release quoted him as saying. Zain agreed. “It’s got their je ne sais quoi,” he remarked, adding, “it’s calling the listener to hear something unfamiliar.”

The music video of Muaziz Sarif has been directed by Kamal Khan, who executed the whole song in a single take to mimic the realness it emphasis on. “One take, no cuts, proud of how it turned out,” Meesha tweeted. Ankur Tewari has also praised the track on the micro-blogging site. He tweeted, “Muaziz Sarif hits you from the get go. What a bomb! Mindblown by Meesha and Faris. Xulfi is breaking all ground with this season.”

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