Maanu, Hasan Raheem and Talal Qureshi's 'Pyaar Hai Asli' is a breath of fresh air

Rehman Afshar alias Maanu, in collaboration with Hasan Raheem and Talal Qureshi, has churned out the second song from his album Sakuna Matata, titled Pyaar Hai Asli.

The track– as the name suggests – is a confession of love, written in the form of a rap, enmeshed with the sounds of trees, wind and in some places, even the birds – courtesy of Talal, who also makes it dark in places to add texture. Despite being a pretty standard hip hop pop number, it evokes surreal, impervious visuals, complimented by an arrangement of Urdu-English lyrics delivered by Maanu and Raheem. The earthy song is fit for a slow drive across the mountains or the sea, and is a refreshing turn from any of the singers’ previous releases that are either peppy or quite fiery.

Featuring the Joona and Kidhar? crooners, Pyaar Hai Asli’s official lyric video is available on YouTube. The track released on May 6 and a music video is expected to drop soon. Maanu also released Kehti Sahi featuring Towers a day before. The artist took toTwitter to announce that his album will feature six tracks, all of which will be in collaboration with various artists including Raheem, Qureshi, Rozeo, Towers, and Salor.

He shared that all the songs are "inspired by nature" and closed his tweet with an appreciation note for fans and collaborating performers.

This year, Maanu not only wrote songs for himself but Coke Studio as well. He penned Abdullah Siddiqui and Atif Aslam's Go, which became one of the most popular songs from this year’s season. While Maanu’s work is slowly garnering the attention it deserves, it is likely that his latest album may just boost his reach, granted the artists he’s collaborating with.

Pyaar Hai Asli has even piqued the interest of someone like Osman Khalid Butt, who re-tweeted Maanu’s announcement to write, “Bohat khoob [brilliant]" with the hashtag now playing. A Twitter user even shared that the song has been helping them "study" and that Maanu must keep the bangers coming. One could even hear the “old Hasan Raheem” in the track. Another felt that Pyaar Hai Asli is "one of the best songs" of the year and certainly one of Maanu's best.

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