Coke Studio (Season 14)

This book reviews the 13 songs of Coke Studio's 14th season and highlights how those innovations resulted in a successful reboot of the show.

In a country fraught with political instability and violence, the television show Coke Studio serves as a beacon of hope and progress in Pakistan. For over a decade, its music has acted as a medium for sharing Pakistan's rich musical heritage across the world and created an appreciation and awareness of the musical traditions embedded within the diverse communities of the country. The show has a profound cultural impact in its exposure of not only Pakistan’s, but the entire South Asian region’s indigenous musical compositions and ancient musical traditions dating back to the 12th century.

Referencing his own personal experiences working as a session artist in Coke Studio’s second and 11th seasons, Jamil emphasises how the show has taken a major shift in sonic palettes, visual style, and production approach in the 14th season. This was largely due to the introduction of Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan (a.k.a. Xulfi) and his team of electronic producers who have hugely impacted the local music in Pakistan for more than five years with their hybrid production approach to Pakistani music; electronic dance music applied to regional melodies and instrumentation.