Coke Studio (Pakistani season 11)

The following is a list of thirty-nine artists (seventy individuals) including eight bands, five duos and twenty-six solo artists.[11][12]

The following are the musicians for the season:

After producing four seasons, Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of Strings left the show to continue their own music,[13] and Coke Studio Season 10 was the last season prodeced by them.[7] After Strings departure, it was earlier reported that Noori will take charge as a new producers, however their publicist denied such reports.[14]

In March 2018, Coca-Cola Pakistan announced Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi would helm the production and direction of eleventh season.[15][16] Coca-Cola officially released a statement saying that "both Coke Studio veterans" have played "an instrumental role in its success over the years. We cannot wait to share their brilliance with all of you" in the "new chapter of the Coke Studio" journey.[17] Fahad Qadir who is a director of public Affairs and communications of Coca-Cola, revealed on approaching Kazi and Hamza saying, "I think it was a natural evolution. Rohail Hyatt came to a point where he thought change was good" and "he brought Coke Studio where it is today. Strings had a different sound and brought in a different bag of producers. […] These are the producers we feel have the right blend, the experience, the history with Coke Studio the understanding of Coke Studio to take it to the next level."[18][19]

In July 2018, Arab News revealed that Hamza and Kazi had first met in August 2017 in Lahore, two months before they were approached for the show. Kazi recounts, "that was the first time we connected on a personal level", while Hamza told, "We sat down to talk very specifically about this opportunity", and within minutes "I truly felt I had known Zohaib for a long time."[20] They told Dawn Images in an interview that before they "started speaking to Coca-Cola", they "talked generally, about life and people and Pakistan". They had long discussions about the responsibility that Coke Studio had to be spread across the country to attract both; urban and rural areas; as "the regions and its people collectively make Pakistan."[21]

The series went into production in April 2018 and finished filming the following month at Karachi. Post-production took place in June and July at Front Food Media in Lahore.

As a part of a new module,[22] a spin-off series Coke Studio Explorer was created before the launch of season, on a concept similar to Kazi's previous work on his album Fanoos that featured relatively unknown artists across the country where recordings were done live and edited later.[21] In an interview to Daily Times by the duo, Kazi explained, "in Fanoos, we limited ourselves to recording musicians on location. We do much more in Coke Studio Explorer by highlighting the culture, stories and ethos behind the music. After presenting the musicians in their home locations, we bring them to our studios" to record in traditional Coke Studio style too. Hamza said, "we established the criteria for selection before embarking on our search for musicians", they "had to be talented" and had "to represent a unique aspect of the culture, history and spirit of Pakistan."[23] The duo developed a special mobile recording system for the on-location recordings and while additional tracks and engineering was completed in studio.[23][21]

The duo travelled in all four provinces and Kashmir to find artists that were known in their native regions but were unknown to mainstream media.[24][25] The duo discovered a sixteen-year old pair of Amrina and Ariana from Kalash, Chitral,[26] the brother-sister duo of Vishnu and Shamu Bai from Deewan Lal Chand a village in interior Sindh,[27] while from Sohbatpur District, Balochistan they found throat-singers Mangal, Darehan and Shayan (now known as Bloach Throat singers),[28] a fusion band Qasamir led by Altaf Mir with Ghulam Mohammad Daar, Manzoor Ahmed Khan, Saifuddin Shahfrom from Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir,[29] and the fifth and final collaboration was with Mishal Khawaja a Pakistani born-Canadian singer, who was discovered through her Instagram covers.[30]

The Explorer series has received largely positive reviews from critics, with particular praise given to its new module, diversity, performances and Coke Studio efforts in showcasing and bringing the indigenous art form of Pakistan to the mainstream media.[31][32]

Among thirty-nine artists, fifteen musicians debut with season eleven including seven bands, five duos, and three solo artists.[33] Actor and singer Ahad Raza Mir,[34] Lahore-based rapper Young Desi;[35] singer Elizabeth Rai (who is particularly known for her song in the film Teri Meri Love Story) and Illinois-based duo Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf of Krewella made their debuts.[36] Four of five artists from Coke Studio Explorer series appeared in the season, while singers Riaz Qadri and Ghulam Qadri along with hip-hop band L.U.G (Lyari UnderGround),[35] who previously worked with Kazi on his album Fanoos, also made their debuts.[37][38]

For the first time in the history of Coke Studio, two transgender singers, Naghma and Lucky were included as featured artists.[39] Their appearance received overwhelming response from media critics and people.[40][41][42][43][44] Several featured artists returned from previous seasons as well,[33] including Humera Arshad who was on hiatus before appearing in the tenth season. Arshad remarked, "this will be the beginning of a new phase for me in my singing career."[45]

Preceding the release of season, as a part of a traditional format, Coke Studio revealed this year featured artists performing a rendition of popular nazm, "Hum Dekhenge" by poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, originally recorded by Iqbal Bano.[50][51] The promo song also manifests the nation's political situation in the midst of general elections.[52][53] On continuing the tradition of title song, Kazi and Hamza said that this season's journey of began with Coke Studio Explorer, "we couldn't be more confident about the power of human stories coming together to form a bigger picture", so "there couldn't be a better choice for a track than: "Hum Dekhenge" – A song by sung the people of Pakistan, for the people of Pakistan!"[54] The song was well received by critics and public.[55][56]