''Vulture Prince'' is the third album by Pakistani musician

Arooj Aftab Arooj Aftab (; born March 11, 1985) is a Pakistani singer, composer, and producer based in the United States. She works in various musical styles and idioms, including jazz, minimalism, and neo-Sufi. Aftab was nominated for the Grammy Award fo ...

, released by

New Amsterdam Records New Amsterdam Records is a record label in New York City that was formed in 2008 by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and William Brittelle to promote classically trained musicians who fall between traditional genre boundaries. Often abbrev ...

on April 23, 2021. Thematically, the album discusses stories of people, relationships, and lost moments and is dedicated to the memory of her younger brother, Maher. "Mohabbat" won the Best Global Music Performance at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

Critical reception

Bhanuj Kappal of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' called the album a "heartbreaking, exquisite document of the journey from grief to acceptance." ''Vulture Prince'' was named the best album of 2021 by

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

newspaper ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

'', topping their year-end list. Brenna Ehrlich ranked the album sixth on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s "Best Music of 2021" staff list. It was ranked number twenty by ''

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'' on their list of the "50 best albums of 2021", and Laura Snapes named Aftab " e year's biggest musical revelation". While ''Vulture Prince'' did not rank on the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' top ten "Best Albums of 2021", it was, however, included on their "15 deserving albums" list.

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

selected the song "Mohabbat" from this album as one of his summer playlist favorites for 2021. "Mohabbat" was called one of the best songs of 2021 by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' and ''The New York Times''. "Mohabbat" won the Best Global Music Performance at the

Track listing

Personnel

– songwriting, vocals, production *

Maeve Gilchrist Maeve Gilchrist is a Scottish harpist and composer currently living in New York City. She is known for combining traditional folk music, jazz, improvisation, and experimentation. Early life and education Gilchrist grew up in Edinburgh, where s ...

– harp (1, 3, 5) * Darian Donovan Thomas – violin (1, 3) *

Petros Klampanis Petros Klampanis (born July 15, 1981), is a Greek bassist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator. Named a “Bass Ace” by Bass Player Magazine, composer and bassist Petros Klampanis grew up in Greece. In addition to his appearances in the ...

– double bass (1), piano (3), double bass (3) *

Badi Assad Badi Assad (born 23 December 1966) is a Brazilian singer, composer and guitarist in the jazz and worldbeat genres. Early life and education Assad was born in São João da Boa Vista in the state of São Paulo, but lived in Rio de Janeiro unt ...

- guitar (2) *

Magda Giannikou Magda Giannikou is a Greek composer, film scorer, singer, pianist and accordionist. Early life and education Giannikou was born 27 January 1981, in Athens, Greece. She taught in Greek elementary schools and composed music for TV and theater produc ...

– arrangement (2) * Juliette Jones – strings arrangement (2) * Rootstock Republic – strings (2) ** Juliette Jones – violin (2) ** Lady Jess – violin (2) ** Jarvis Benson – viola (2) ** Malcolm Parson – cello (2) * Nadje Noordhuis – flugelhorn (3, 5) * Bhrigu Sahni – guitar (4) * Mario Carrillio – double bass (4) * Jörn Bielfeldt – drums (4) *

Jamey Haddad Jamey George Haddad (born July 2, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American percussionist who works primarily in the fields of jazz and world music and specializes in hand drums. Biography Haddad is of Lebanese ancestry. From the age of four, he b ...

– percussion (5) *

Gyan Riley Gyan Riley (born 1977) is an American guitarist and composer. He is a son of minimalist composer Terry Riley. They frequently collaborate, including a tour in Europe in September 2016. Gyan Riley studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He ...

– guitar (5) * Shahzad Ismaily – synth (5, 6) * Kenji Herbert – guitar (6) *

Annie Ali Khan Quratulain “Annie” Ali Khan (; 1980 – 21 July 2018) was a Pakistani model, free-lance journalist, and author. Her book, ''Sita under the Crescent Moon'' was published by Simon and Schuster in 2019. Her work addressed gender inequality ...

– lyrics (6) * Joshua Valleau – mixing, engineering * Damon Whittemore – mastering * Vishesh Sharma – photography * Anum Awan – photo editing * Micah Blacklight – album artwork * Vandana Jain – art direction, design

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums Arooj Aftab albums New Amsterdam Records albums