Shuja Haider or Shuja Hyder is a Pakistani singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer.
23 Facts About Shuja Haider
2.
Shuja Haider served as music director for Lux Style Awards for two years.
3.
Shuja Haider has produced over 50 albums in his career and is considered one of the most established music producers in Pakistan today.
4.
Shuja Haider was born in Lahore, Pakistan to Sajid Ali, a singer-musician, and is one of four siblings.
5.
Shuja Haider's grandfather was renowned Pakistani pianist, Master Sadiq Ali, often referred to as the master pianist of the subcontinent.
6.
Shuja Haider recalls that he always wanted to be a cricketer, inspired at a young age by cricketers Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, and Imran Khan.
7.
Shuja Haider's family moved to Karachi, Pakistan in the early 1990s, just as the city was becoming a cultural and creative hub for young musicians from all over Pakistan due to the influx of pop music and TV music channels.
8.
Shuja Haider eventually decided to pursue a career in music, and his main interest was in songwriting, composing, and producing music.
9.
Shuja Haider lists Sting, Coldplay, Henry Mancini, John Williams, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan among his musical influences and has stated that listening to the Bee Gees, The Carpenters, Queen, Abba and The Beatles as a teenager was particularly impactful for him.
10.
Shuja Haider established his own recording studio, Speed of Sound, in 1996 and produced Haroon's first solo album Haroon Ki Awaz in 2000 and Ahmed Jahanzeb's second studio album Parastish in 2003.
11.
In 2008, Shuja Haider wrote and performed a song for the Indian film Ru Ba Ru.
12.
Shuja Haider is known for his collaborations with Shoaib Mansoor in his films Khuda Kay Liye and Bol, where he recorded solos and duets with Ahmed Jahanzeb.
13.
Shuja Haider made his Coke Studio debut in 2016 as music director and songwriter in Season 9 with the songs "Aaqa" and "Khaki Banda".
14.
Shuja Haider wrote, composed, and directed "Allahu Akbar," a traditional hamd performed by Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and Ahmed Jahanzeb.
15.
In Coke Studio Season 12, Shuja Haider performed the song "Saiyyan" with Rachel Viccaji, produced by Rohail Hyatt, the co-creator of Coke Studio.
16.
Shuja Haider continues to be closely associated with Coke Studio Pakistan and has been credited with bringing greater variety to the show in recent years.
17.
Shuja Haider sang the song along with artistes such as Strings, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Ali Zafar, and Hadiqa Kiyani among others.
18.
In 2017, Shuja Haider announced his work on Soundscape, meant to be an interactive, multi-city live music series that would feature a number of artistes from around the country, representing different musical genres.
19.
Also in 2017, Shuja Haider featured in and produced music for Season 5 of National Ka Pakistan, a reality adventure show on YouTube that explored and highlighted the unique culinary diversity across the four provinces of Pakistan.
20.
In 2020, Shuja Haider produced and composed music for Season 3 of Strepsils Stereo, the first musical platform in Pakistan geared at producing a cappella music and presenting new musical talent.
21.
In 2022, Shuja Haider launched The Idol Online, an online talent hunt to scout, train, and develop up-and-coming musical talent from across Pakistan.
22.
Shuja Haider has stated in various interviews that for traditional Eastern classical music to survive, it is necessary to blend it with Western music to make it more accessible and attractive to listeners today.
23.
Shuja Haider's music aims to highlight traditional compositions and instruments while thematically reinterpreting them in a modern context.