Meesha Shafi talks dropping her first album, ‘Mein’ and re-defining her identity

A woman of many talents, popular singer Meesha Shafi took the time out to bring a little culture to her life in Toronto as the singer paired up with Indian-Canadian singer Rupinder “Rup” Singh Magon in an episode of Out in the Open to cook some fish biryani and discuss updates in her life.

Amidst the cookout, Rup takes to the outdoors to have a sit-down conversation with Shafi, inquiring about her move to Toronto from Lahore. “Immigration is one of those things where you won’t know what it feels like until you go through it. Toronto is a melting pot, and a lot more than other western cities…It’s not mainstream, though,” she began.

While the singer and song-writer had made a name for herself in Pakistan, Shafi talked of the struggle of rediscovering one’s identity in new and foreign surroundings; “To re-contextualise [your identity] and to immerse yourself in a new environment and then to establish yourself…but I never regretted it. As soon as I came here [to Toronto], quite instantly I gained a lot of love for this place.”

However, it seems despite her move, the Bholay Bhalay singer is staying true to her roots as she admits to embody the foodie mentality like a lot of other Pakistanis; “If I don’t get desi food for more than two to three days then I lose my mind.”

The Muaziz Saarif singer also dwelled on aspects of her career she would like to revisit, revealing, “One is cinema, or even television. Things have changed, television has become completely re-defined now, but acting, you could say. And one thing I am very close to putting out actually, is my first album.”

When asked if this mystery album has been named, the singer revealed that “for now” it will be called Mein. “It translates as ‘I.’ Not ‘me,’ but ‘I.’ You know, there’s a difference. It’s about the self,” revealed Shafi, seemingly suggesting that her new music would be an attempt at re-discovering herself like she spoke of earlier.