Talal Qureshi on Finding the Confidence to Release his Debut Album ‘Turbo’

In the game for more than a decade as a producer, Lahore-based beatsmith Talal Qureshi released his debut full-length album Turbo only in September last year, with a deluxe edition featuring three additional tracks out now. 

Until now, there have been several EPs, but like most producers, Qureshi thrived as the music-maker in the studio for several artists, from Faris Shafi to Natasha Noorani and his own duo SNKM with artist Adil Omar. In more recent times, Qureshi was tapped for projects like Coke Studio (“Peechay Hutt”) and New Delhi duo Seedhe Maut’s massive mixtape Lunch Break, producing “Asal G” which also featured Pakistani rapper Faris Shafi. Qureshi says, “All my life people have been like, ‘Okay, so this song is called this and this is the artist.’ That’s it. And I’ve been okay with that because that’s how everything was going, I guess. But I’m glad that it has changed and everyone’s getting the credit.”

Like a true creative mind at work, Qureshi says he feels grateful that he could finish his debut album Turbo on time and deliver it to longtime and recent fans. “I’ve been meaning to do my debut album for the longest time but I guess I never thought that I was there yet,” he says. Luckily for him, Qureshi says jokingly his agent was “on my case the whole time.” There were always 15 tracks in mind for Turbo but he went with the 12 that were ready in time for the set deadline in 2023. More than the people around him or a looming deadline, Qureshi says it was also about finding the confidence to put out a body of work on this scale. 

Qureshi has traversed trap, hip-hop, pop and electronic music – even remixing metal band Takatak’s song “Flash Your Bones” – but Turbo is all about desi-pop sound in a modern context. He says, “I don’t think that I’ve heard this sound anywhere else. So I felt like all these tracks connect to me very differently and I would like to put them out in a project.” 

The goal in terms of the output then – and a goal that’s been a constant for Qureshi – was to “elevate the sound of the industry” in Pakistan. “I feel like we have the responsibility of elevating everyone. Humare sound ke saath they [everybody] can evolve as well.” 

The sound, arguably, is the more hip-hop-leaning aesthetic that Qureshi champions, among several other producers. Desi hip-hop, in India and Pakistan as well as in diaspora communities around the world, has taken over mainstream music consciousness, including radio airwaves and film soundtracks. The producer welcomes the change and calls it cyclic, comparing it to how rock bands like Junoon and Vital Signs flew the Pakistani rock flag high for the previous generation until the rock sound got “monotonous” and “saturated” in the country and the next generation of listeners tuned in to a different movement. 

Turbo presents the diversity of that movement, from the beat-switching “Kundi” featuring rap fro Blal Bloch and Yashraj. “Rangeen” springs to life with a house music-informed element and the additions in the deluxe version include the pop banger “Kya” with artist Asim Azhar and “Tarka,” a bop that samples the shehnai. 

Apart from Yashraj, artist Mitika Kanwar is a prominent voice on Turbo, especially on songs like “Aya,” where both Indian artists feature. Qureshi says of Kanwar, “I needed someone like Abida Parveen, who can do classical vocals. I looked up and found Mitika and she had worked with one of my fellow producers. Whatever she does is phenomenal. I believe she’s going to be one of the biggest artists.” 

As for Yashraj, it seems like an extension of more Pakistani and Indian hip-hop artists continually collaborating. Qureshi says he and the rapper connected a year ago and were “fangirling over each other’s music” and were keen to collaborate. “I just made the track [“Aya”] and I felt like it required that energy which Yashraj has, because he’s so versatile in his own way,” the producer says. 

In the weeks following the Turbo deluxe edition release, Qureshi’s already had a new project drop, the dancefloor-friendly “Jogi” with Lahore singer-songwriter Maanu. “I’m just trying to write as much more music as I can. I have a little confidence from releasing an album so I know how that process goes. I’m just going to start accumulating all the stuff that I want to do for 2024 and work with everyone else,” Qureshi adds.