Virality is seductive, but it\u2019s slippery. One week you\u2019re on every story, the next you\u2019re gone. \u201cAnything can go viral today,\u201d said Afusic. \u201cBut it\u2019s not enough to sustain a career.\u201d<\/p>\n
When \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 dropped in February, no one, least of all its creators, Affan Khan, who goes by his stage name Afusic, and producer Ali Soomro, anticipated the scale at which it would blow up. Within days, the track garnered six-figure views on YouTube, TikTok reels exploded with snippets, and celebrities from Hania Aamir to Faisal Kapadia endorsed it.<\/p>\n
But behind its seemingly overnight success was a story of family legacy, bad studio experiences, tea-fuelled rejections, and above all, a relentless pursuit of authenticity. There was also the looming question of virality \u2014 not so much about whether it can be manufactured, but how much reels and shorts are shaping the music being made today.<\/p>\n
From a ghazal household to rap battles<\/p>\n For Afusic, music wasn\u2019t a conscious choice as much as it was destiny. His father, Azeem Sarwar, a ghazal artist, was his earliest influence. \u201cI would eavesdrop on his rehearsals and try to copy him. During one of his performances, I forced him to let me sing. He agreed. That was the first time I was ever appreciated for my singing.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of following exactly in his father\u2019s footsteps, Afusic kept his ears wide open to everything \u2014 English pop, Urdu ballads, hip-hop. By the time he was in college, he was recording karaoke covers on his mother\u2019s phone. Later, a better mic and Instagram gave him a platform to showcase his voice.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2020, I saw how artists were putting out original music. It was around the same time Hasan Raheem blew up. But I was really into hip-hop because of Talha Anjum and Talhah Yunus. I have been following them since 2013. I would even fight for Talha Anjum. So I started writing rap,\u201d shared Afusic.<\/p>\n Trying his hand at rhymes, he entered underground rap contests where veterans such as Jani and Savage lauded his ability. \u201cI would sing too; everyone knew that was something I could do. But I never had professional training. I never sat with my father to learn. I just watched him train and absorbed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hyderabad beginnings and failed bands<\/p>\n Soomro\u2019s story takes us to Hyderabad, where, growing up, he would listen to the Top 40 UK charts religiously. By 2013, he was experimenting with his own songs, hunting for studios in a city that offered little in terms of quality. \u201cThe sound always came out funny,\u201d he laughed. Frustrated, he pivoted to live performance, starting a rock band where he doubled as lead vocalist and guitarist. It barely lasted two shows.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we just didn\u2019t talk to each other enough,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThere was no cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n In search of a more sustainable path, he turned to classical music training, spending three years under an ustad. The theory was solid, but according to Soomro, his execution \u201clacked soul\u201d. By 2021, he realised his strength wasn\u2019t in performing but in production. \u201cI understood how music worked, the backend of it. So production felt natural to me. That\u2019s when I opened my own studio.\u201d<\/p>\n Fate brought Afusic and Soomro together in 2022 and they instantly clicked.<\/p>\n Taking the leap of faith<\/p>\n One of the turning points in Afusic\u2019s journey was Talha Anjum\u2019s track \u20184 AM\u2019. A single line, Tu sooraj ko chiraag mat dikha (I\u2019m the sun, don\u2019t show me the lantern), pushed him to quit his call centre job, something he\u2019s confessed to in all his interviews. \u201cIt triggered my self-esteem,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like corporate culture anyway. I always wanted to do something bigger. So, when I heard \u20184 am\u2019, I realised I was the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n To get by, Afusic freelanced in graphic design, but music remained his focus. \u201cThere are always two kinds of music,\u201c he said, \u201cOne that you do for yourself, and one that you do for others. So my initial goal was to make music that would resonate with people. I knew once I had their attention, I could give them a taste of what I like.\u201d<\/p>\n For Afusic, \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 was a combination of both.<\/p>\n \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 \u2014 written at dawn, polished in patience<\/p>\n Afusic remembers exactly how \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 was born: \u201cI initially wrote \u2018Heer\u2019 and brought it to Ali. He said this song would blow up. That boosted my confidence. The next morning at 6 or 7am, I was smoking and listening to beats on YouTube, and I eventually started writing. Whatever I wrote, I brought it to Ali.\u201d<\/p>\n Soomro kept the production for \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 minimal but intentional. \u201cI like to play instruments myself \u2014 ukulele, guitars, and MIDI. I don\u2019t rely on samples. Three days of work went into \u2018Pal Pal\u2019, and then it sat in the hard drive.\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cThis was two years ago. Ali told me to wait because he said the song would explode,\u201d Afusic added.<\/p>\n He was of the view that the more the music, the more the listenership. \u201cI used to think that if I dropped a song every week, the algorithm would favour me. That is not to say it didn\u2019t. It actually helped; we started getting featured on playlists more regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n The artist claimed his and Soomro\u2019s music would be \u2018sensible\u2019 enough to get featured. \u201cThere\u2019s also a whole process to pitching your songs to different playlists; people weren\u2019t familiar with that process back when Spotify arrived. But once we started getting noticed, a lot of industry folks and other entities started recognising us.\u201d<\/p>\n By entities, Afusic meant music labels. \u201cTiming matters. When I brought \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 to Ali two years ago, he told me to wait because it was not the \u2018right time\u2019. Because we didn\u2019t have the kind of entities we were looking for in the market. Labels. The label that I\u2019m working with. Universal Music Group (UMG) Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n UMG marked its presence in Pakistan in 2023 when it signed Asim Azhar. The same year, Sony Music signed Taha G. Ever since, we\u2019ve heard of many labels, including Mass Appeal, expanding into Pakistan\u2019s music market, eyeing its indie music. But the backing of a label or a streaming service alone cannot be credited for \u2018Pal Pal\u2019, Afusic, or Soomro\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest factor is your art. Campaigns and labels come much later. No label will take your song unless it\u2019s a good song,\u201d assured Soomro.<\/p>\n \u201cThe label didn\u2019t push \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 the moment it released. It monitored how well the song would do on its own. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the standard for every music label, but the investment is usually directly proportional to the performance,\u201d Afusic said.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Pal Pal\u2019 hit 100,000 views in three days on its own without any promotion,\u201d he claimed. Soomro noted, \u201cWe had never seen numbers like that. Our songs would get 1,000 to 2,000 views; 5,000 views meant it was a good day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n But \u2018Pal Pal\u2019s journey wasn\u2019t as smooth. Even with a label on board, the artists struggled to find someone to make their music video.<\/p>\n Afusic and Soomro knocked on many doors for and were constantly turned away, sometimes literally offered tea and then dismissed. \u201cWe met a guy \u2014 we won\u2019t name him \u2014 for 10 days straight, we went to his house. Every day, he would serve us tea and send us home. But not once did he make our storyboard. Every day, we\u2019d pick out a new pair of socks to go to this man,\u201d Soomro quipped.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The real breakthrough, though, came when a music producer and the brains behind FT.WA Studio, Abdullah Kasumbi, took a chance on the duo.<\/p>\n \u201cYou asked me about timing earlier. I feel like timing was again a huge factor in making \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 a hit because we met Abdullah Kasumbi at a time when no one was willing to make our music video. He introduced me to Hasan Raheem, made Annural Khalid and Hania Aamir listen to my song. That gave me a push. That introduced people to my work. I still thank him; whenever I meet him, I say, \u2018Abdullah bhai, you\u2019re a good person, thank you!\u2019\u201d shared Afusic.<\/p>\n Ringtones to reels<\/p>\n While recent Pakistani pop music seems to be competing for the \u201cAdd Sound\u201d button on Instagram, \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 came as a breather that went viral for more than just one catchy tabla-induced hook. \u2018Pal Pal\u2019s strength lies in having multiple loopable hooks. \u201cAll three parts of our song ended up being used in reels,\u201d Afusic said.<\/p>\n The duo acknowledged that reels and shorts are shaping a lot of the music we listen to today. \u201cSongs are being designed to have one reel-friendly part,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut it\u2019s not entirely new. Akon once said he made songs to sell ringtones. He observed how people were paying more for ringtones than songs and cashed in on that.\u201c<\/p>\n Recognising the higher profit margins for ringtones compared to singles, Akon intentionally created catchy, ringtone-friendly songs like \u2018Lonely\u2019 in the 2000s and became the highest-selling ringtone artist in 2007. He had sold over 11 million master ringtones and made a Guinness World Record<\/a> in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a generational thing,\u201d said Soomro. \u201cShorts and reels are our ringtones.\u201d But the artist held that one shouldn\u2019t be discouraged if their music isn\u2019t \u2018reel-friendly\u2019 because that does not make it good or bad, and one viral track surely doesn\u2019t guarantee a successful career in music.<\/p>\n Pressure after the big hit?<\/p>\n The obvious question after \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 is: what next? Do Afusic and Soomro feel the pressure to replicate its success?<\/p>\n Afusic shrugged it off. \u201cI\u2019m pretty confident in myself and my musical ability. I made \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 the same way I make all my songs. So I will continue to do that. Viral or not viral is up to the audience. My job is to stay consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n And maybe that\u2019s the secret. \u2018Pal Pal\u2019 wasn\u2019t written or produced to go viral \u2014 it was written at dawn, on a whim, from a place of raw honesty. And its virality was the byproduct, not the purpose.<\/p>\n \u201cTo all aspiring artists wishing to break into the scene, I say, be original,\u201d Afusic stressed. \u201cDon\u2019t fake being someone you\u2019re not. I did that when I was 18, writing gangster rap that didn\u2019t resonate. Authenticity is what connects. And be open to criticism. Ali criticises me a lot, but it makes me better.\u201d<\/p>\n Soomro added, \u201cThere are no set rules. Be original. But also sort your kitchen. Don\u2019t romanticise the depressed artist trope. Take care of yourself while pursuing your art.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim,\u201d Afusic added, \u201cis to create a fusion of old-school classical with the newer pop sound. That\u2019s what excites me.\u201d For Soomro, the goal is to keep pushing production boundaries, playing instruments by hand, and experimenting with sounds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always been confident in our music, even before \u2018Pal Pal\u2019. This viral moment didn\u2019t create that confidence \u2014 it only confirmed it,\u201c he assured. \u201cSo going forward, we\u2019ll do what we\u2019ve always done. We don\u2019t think in algorithms, anyway,\u201d he smiled. \u201cWe just think in music.\u201d<\/p>\n Cover image by Subhan Noor (@vadersnaps<\/a>)<\/p>\n