For the past couple of years, he has been touring Europe, the Gulf, Asia and even South America. Khan has also started work on a second album, in which he will sing, partly in English.
They are set to work together in the next couple of months. His biggest coup since leaving the label is an upcoming collaboration with the American rapper T Pain.
He has recently left Prestige - the British record label that helped him rise to fame - because of money problems. It’s his favourite to perform and he says he wrote the lyrics, as for all of his songs, himself. Khan’s biggest hit, “ Amplifier”, has been viewed over 14.5 million times on YouTube. “Too much partying?” I joke, desperate to break the ice. I haven’t slept since performing in Dubai last night,” he replies to my chirpy greeting. His left eyebrow is styled with a set of shaved lines and he keeps his iPhone 4 and white Blackberry close by on the table.
Dressed in a pink Ralph Lauren sweater, grey Nike jogging bottoms, embellished with a neon green tick, a baby-pink baseball cap and adorned with a beaded necklace, Khan looks every inch the Pakistani Rudeboy. The Gujranwala native is slumped in the lobby, accompanied by his manager who looks no older than 25, and, I suspect, is a relative or a friend. And so, I head to the Marriott, a relatively low-key five-star hotel. “Can you be at the venue in five minutes?” he asks. Indeed, it is Saf’s car which was blasting the record, having picked up the singer from the airport. On hearing the tune, I call the promoter, Saf.
I have an interview booked with the Dutch-Pakistani, the Khan who has brought us those now famous lyrics: “Kaaliyan bariyaan ve gadiyaan nu main lawaan, Speed main do so vee di challan” (I’ll add black tinted windows to my cars, I’ll ride at a speed of 220). It must be, I think, a Qatar-based Punjabi, excited that Europe’s successful young singer is due to perform that very evening. On a warm Friday morning in Doha’s Corniche, a car is blasting out Imran Khan’s Bhangra-meets-Dancehall anthem “Amplifier”.
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