Sufi rock
Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "sufi rock" was coined in 1993 by writer Nadeem F. Paracha to define the Pakistani band Junoon, who pioneered the process of fusing conventional rock music with folk sufi music and imagery.[1][2][3]
Sufi rock | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | Rock, sufi music |
Cultural origins | Early 90s, India, Pakistan and Turkey |
Typical instruments | Electric guitar, bass guitar, Drum kit, Singing, dhol, tabla, sitar, flute, pump organ |
Regional scenes | |
Pakistan • Turkey |
History
It is mostly based on the poetry of famous sufi poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah and even Kabir and is mostly sung in languages such as Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, Persian and Turkish.
A few artists such as Abida Parveen, Junoon, Kailash Kher, Fuzön and Mekaal Hasan Band have achieved commercial success as well as mainstream critical recognition while some veteran sufi folk singers such as Arif Lohar and Saeen Zahoor have also dabbled in this genre.
See also
- Pakistani rock
- Culture of India
- Music of Pakistan
- Music of India
- Pakistani hip hop
- Culture of Pakistan
- Taqwacore
References
- The Nadeem F. Paracha's Work(s) Archive
- A Rock and Roll Jihad for the Soul of Pakistan. The Huffington Post
- The Pluralism Project at Harvard University: Salman Ahmed Brings Sufi-Rock, Political Message to Harvard (Massachusetts)