Coke Studio Nu.WAV continues with Rangeen

Coke Studio Nu.WAV continues its journey with Rangeen, bringing together Hasan Raheem and Izzchugtai on a song produced by Umair that turns longing, love and youthful romance into something considerably brighter.

Rangeen began with a beat passed from Umair to Hasan, eventually finding its melody almost instinctively during a drive home. Rather than polishing away the spontaneity of what emerged, Umair allowed his hip-hop instincts to meet the song’s more classical character, creating a record that stays light on its feet even as it carries an unmistakable sense of yearning. Hasan reaches towards affection, while Izzchugtai’s arrival shifts the energy once again, giving the song another colour and dimension.

The music video, directed by Arham Ikram, takes the familiar language of filmi romance and turns it playfully askew. Against a pastel version of Lahore, Hasan finds himself on a rooftop during Basant, where a chance glimpse of a girl across the way becomes the beginning of an entire romance, at least in his imagination. Kites fill the sky, stones are tossed towards balconies, and an infatuated hero begins constructing a future with someone he has barely met.

What follows plays out through the logic of a daydream. Hashim Ali’s production design reimagines Lahore not quite as it exists, but as it might live in memory: pastel façades, patterned tiles and fabric, old computers, CDs, cassettes and film posters drawing from an early-2000s childhood. As Hasan’s imagined romance gathers momentum, the world around him becomes increasingly colourful, heightened and deliberately unreal.

Speaking about Rangeen, Kamal Khan, Executive Producer, Coke Studio Nu.WAV, said: “Rangeen was kind of easy in the best way. Hasan and Umair already had it. The song, the world, everything. They knew Izzchugtai would work. Arham knows Hasan well enough to just get it. He brought this cool filmy, coming-of-age feel to whole video. He just belongs in that. And Hashim, Aamir and Faraz made the whole thing look incredible.”

And, as with most fantasies, reality eventually has other plans. As the imagined courtship approaches what appears to be its inevitable conclusion, the arrangement opens into shehnai, played by Muhammad Salim, for a wedding that brings the fantasy rather abruptly back to earth. Rangeen, however, refuses to turn heartbreak into tragedy. There may always be another rooftop, another Basant and perhaps another romance waiting somewhere beneath a sky full of kites.

Rangeen also brings together three artists working across the increasingly fluid boundaries of Pakistan’s contemporary pop, R&B and hip-hop landscape. 

Hasan Raheem has become one of the defining voices of contemporary Pakistani indie-pop and R&B, developing a distinctive vocal style across releases including Aisay Kaisay and Joona. His journey has included becoming Spotify RADAR Pakistan’s inaugural artist and featuring in Coke Studio Season 14’s Peechay Hutt alongside Talal Qureshi and Justin Bibis.

Izzchugtai, meanwhile, represents a newer generation of multidisciplinary Pakistani artists moving fluidly between production and performance. Emerging from Lahore’s contemporary music landscape, his work spans collaborations and solo releases including Ghuroor, LOVE BOMB, AWAY FROM ME, Junoon and Nadiyan Paar.

Behind the track is Karachi-born producer and songwriter Umair, whose catalogue has grown from beats made in his bedroom as a teenager into more than 150 releases and collaborations across Pakistan and the wider South Asian music landscape. His previous work with Hasan includes Radha, OBVIOUS and MAKE YOU MINE, alongside an extensive body of work with artists including, but not limited to, Young Stunners, Asim Azhar and Talwiinder.

With Kamal Khan as the executive producer, Rangeen is produced, composed and mixed by Umair, with the song co-arranged by Umair and Hasan Raheem. Hasan Raheem also leads the vocal arrangement, vocal composition and lyrics, with mastering by Sean Tallman. The music video is directed and edited by Arham Ikram, with Aamir Mughal as Director of Photography and Hashim Ali leading production design and art direction. The project is produced by Gali Films, with Iman Khan as Producer.

Rangeen by Hasan Raheem × Izzchugtai is out now across Coke Studio’s official digital platforms.