Tag: Times Square

  • Spotify pays tribute to late Nazia Hassan at New York’s Times Square

    Late pop singer, Nazia Hassan graced New York with her ethereal presence at Times Square on the eve of her death anniversary thanks to Spotify.

    The aesthetic trendsetter in music, who blessed us with some of the greatest songs in Pakistan’s pop music history, tragically passed away on August 13, exactly 22 years ago, with Spotify deservingly paying tribute to her on August 13 at the iconic Times Square with an EQUAL playlist dedicated to her music.

    “Nazia Hassan is a name synonymous with finesse and soulful rhymes. Her influence on the subcontinent continues to be emulated and admired until this day, even after her passing. Making her debut with the song Aap Jaisa Koi in 1980, she and her brother Zoheb Hassan have sold more than 65 million records worldwide. Having won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer at 15 in 1981, she remains the first Pakistani and the youngest recipient of the accolade to date,” stated a press release issued by the music streaming platform.

    It further added,  “As the world celebrates the 22nd anniversary of her passing on Aug 13, EQUAL Pakistan acknowledges her profound impact on Pakistan’s music ecosystem. With her brother Zoheb Hassan, Nazia holds enormous respect and affection for her music and contributions to social causes.”

  • ‘The ones who do the big talks’, Sheheryar Afridi criticises US women while in New York

    ‘The ones who do the big talks’, Sheheryar Afridi criticises US women while in New York

    Chairman of the Parliamentary Com­mittee on Kashmir, Sheh­r­yar Khan Afridi’s video has gone viral on social media, where he can be seen criticising the women of the United States (US) for their culture.

    Afridi, while leisurely walking in Times Square, New York, wearing a Levi’s t-shirt, lectures American women for their cultural choices and draws a comparison with Pakistani women.

    “The religion we follow, whether we are a Baloch, Sindhi, Punjabi, immigrant, Siraki or Pushtun, we respect our women. See, she is an American woman. She too is someone’s sister or daughter. This is Manhattan,” says Afridi.

    Afridi further added, “These people are advocates of human rights, these aren’t just political slogans. This is the reality.”

    “The ones who do the big talks and lecture us should come and see what the condition of their women is,” said Afridi.

    Afridi received a lot of backlash on his video and Twitterati reacted strongly to Afridi’s problematic comments.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal tweeted, “Ridiculous. [The] US has its own culture & values & it is none of our business to lecture them on women issues while we have seen some serious crimes against women recently at home.”

    Journalist Alia Chugtai tweeted, “11 rape cases are reported a day in Pakistan. No one actually knows how many in reality. An unaccounted number of little boys and men raped – and here is a ruling party member trying his hand at dissing how women in America are treated.”

    Journalist Secunder Kermani tweeted, “One minute and one second of pure facepalm as this Pakistani politician, in a rather tight t-shirt, sermonises about the state of American women.”

    Educationist Taimur Bandey wrote, “All those patriots worried about the image of Pakistan hope you are as embarrassed today as you usually are over everything else.”

    Political activist questioning the government tweeted, “What is this @ShireenMazari1? Why your party people are so brainless? If he does not like [the] US why is he going at first place and wearing T-SHIRT and jeans and cursing their culture? This is disgusting they should not behave childish.”

  • Singer Ali Sethi to feature in Times Square display on Christmas days

    Singer Ali Sethi to feature in Times Square display on Christmas days

    Pakistani musician Ali Sethi will feature in a special video display in New York’s (NY) iconic Times Square over the Christmas holidays.

    Ali Sethi broke this news on his Instagram account where he wrote, “Guess who’s gonna be featured here (NY Times Square] on 13 screens twice a day for a full week? C’est moi, that’s who! Along with a bunch of amazing artistes who collaborated with global music force DU Yun in 2019″.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B56FOBeBDwq/?utm_source=ig_embed

    Sponsored by the Beijing Century Foundation and NY’s Times Square, the Future Tradition video celebrates the genre-bending work of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun and her global collaborators.

    Earlier this year, Sethi and Du Yun joined hands to create a classical work for NY’s Carnegie Hall and the Times Square display will show a portion of his performance. This will be followed by other images from Du Yun’s ouevre.

    The Dil Lagaayein star in a statement said, “I feel honoured to be a part of this display, I have always believed in our musical traditions, in their power to win hearts and change minds, and I feel so proud to represent them before the world.”

    The video display will run twice a day on thirteen screens from December 15th to 21st, with sixteen sightings on December 16th.