Abdullah Siddiqui Explains the Philosophy and Process Behind PSL 7 Anthem

We all are familiar with Abdullah Siddiqui who is considered a musical genius in Pakistan. Recently, Abdullah recently shared his thoughts with Dawn regarding how he deconstructed the PSL anthem ‘Agay Dekh’ for Spotify which gives us an insight into his creative process.

Abdullah Siddiqui has worked as an associate producer for the latest season of Coke Studio and also has worked on the PSL anthem sung by Atif Aslam and Aima Baig.

“When I knew I was going to be doing this anthem, I knew that the first thing I wanted to make sure [of was] it had a dance beat because these anthems normally don’t have dance beats and I love a good club beat. It has more of a dance hall pattern,” he explained on Spotify’s “How To Sound Like Me” feature.

Abdullah Siddiqui went on to say that he discovered a trumpet loop that was “instantly incredibly catchy” and that he added it to the mix. “Then I decided that it needed a lot of crowd sounds so there are all these samples of crowds clapping and chanting, it’s like the ambiance of a stadium. When you put all of that together, it kind of feels like the foundation for the song.”

He further said that another instrument that had a significant role in the music was the cinematic drums. He said they also had “vocals that are very tightly treated, like very crisp pop vocals”. “There are some synths happening and I kept building and building just to add more intensity because I felt like this song needed to be super intense and upbeat.”

PSL 7 anthem ‘Agay Dekh’ was released on January 24 and got a mixed response, much like its predecessors. Fans eventually started loving the anthem, especially with the added excitement it brought to the PSL tournament.