They’re better than me, Hadiqa, Atif: Jawad says today's talent is outperforming his generation

Singer Jawad Ahmad recently sat down for a podcast to offer his two cents regarding the difference between singers of today and ones from his own generation. The Bin Tere crooner lauded the singing talent of the newer generation and claimed that they were, indeed, better at their craft than his peers and himself. 

"I think singers during my time including myself, Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, Hadiqa Kiani, Abrar Ul Haq and others, we just got lucky,” said Ahmad. “We got the right opportunities. We didn’t have immense singing talent, even though we sang without a tuner, we did a pretty decent job and made some good songs which got enough airplay on PTV to become hits" he added.

Ahmad went on to commend today’s singers and the newer talent by acknowledging, "I feel like the singers of today, they are much better than we ever were in our time. From the likes of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to Javaid Bashir. If I am to mention some of the newer lads, Ali Sethi, Amanat Ali and Nabil Shaukat are some singers that are greatly talented and much better than me and my generation of artists."

Ahmad has time and again taken the space to speak for young talent, talent that does not get a platform, and talent that cannot afford one.

The popular singer also came to the fore with similar comments in January when he tweeted a video of a young man, Muhammad Irfan, singing a popular Bollywood number on the street. In Ahmad’s opinion, Pakistan is “a paradise only for rich, successful and famous people”. Comparing Irfan’s voice to that of known professionals, the Bin Tere hitmaker wrote, “countless Pakistanis like this young man sing better than many of [the] country's star singers but will never make it due to being poor.”

He further called out the vicious cycle of struggle and lack of opportunities presented to the poor, adding, “Crores of weak, helpless, oppressed people’s [lives are] a continuous but fruitless struggle.”

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