Can you believe there are only 144 days left in 2024? That is less than 3,456 hours left by the time you receive this email. Crazy!

Now, let’s get onto today’s topics.

AP Dhillon “Old Money” Featuring Salman Khan & Sanjay Dutt

“Don’t Call It A Come Back,” says AP Dhillon before dropping a brand new music video with Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt for his single Old Money.

The song is part of AP’s upcoming album, The Brownprint – a wordplay on Jay-Z’s classic 2001 album The Blueprint. This will be AP Dhillion’s first album release with Republic Records. 

Thoughts — No one creates hype like AP Dhillon in the independent desi music scene. But now, as an established superstar with big budgets and even bigger collaborations, expectations will be high for the music to also be good.

The Old Money music video is fantastic to watch, but it completely distracted me from the song itself.

Arshad Nadeem Wins First-Ever Olympic Gold For Pakistan

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem made history, winning the first-ever Olympic gold for his country in athletics with an Olympic record of 92.97 meters in the javelin throw. The defending gold medalist from India, Neeraj Chopra, secured second place with a throw of 89.45 meters. (Watch)

New Music Discovery

If you didn’t already know, there’s a wave of Arab-American artists that are making incredible music right now. Here are two artists that I’ve recently discovered that are worth checking out.

1. Elyanna - Her song Callin' U (Tamally Maak) is one of the most iconic covers ever. It’s a remake of the original Tamally Maak sung by Amr Diab. Elyanna is a superstar in the making. She has the look and the swag, not to mention an incredible catalog of work. Check out her most recent album, WOLEDTO.

   • Even Bollywood made a remake of this song in 2004.

2. Saint Levant - DIERA by Saint Levant is an absolute banger. He is the Arab world’s AP Dhillon.

Random but unique find of the week - This song is called casino143 by an artist named IVOXYGEN. I like everything from the lyrics to the annoyingly head-thumping beat and the high-pitched, raspy voice. (thank you, youtube algorithm)

Under Radar South Asian Banger — Today’s song is AAJA, by The SwetShop Boys (Riz Ahmed + Heems), featuring Ali Sethi. It was released in 2017, five years before Ali Sethi’s mega-popular Pasoori. 

New Music Releases

• Rahul - Twitter

• Ego N Friends – Are You Alone?

• Anuv Jain - Jo Tum Mere Ho

• AR Paisley x Chani Nathan x Inderpal Moga released a brand new Punjabi album titled East to West.

• Upsidedown is back after a long time with a new single, Hoor.

Other News

• Hanumankind’s ‘Big Dawgs’ Surpasses Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’ on Spotify Global Chart. (read)

• Bangladesh’s PM, Sheikh Hasina, resigned after 15 years and fled the country. (read)

• Three notable moments from the 2024 Summer Olympics

  • Quincy Hall’s last-minute comeback in Men’s 400M.

  • Mondo Duplantis breaks his record at the Pole Vault finals.

  • Team USA defeats Serbia with an epic 4th-quarter comeback in the Semi-Finals.

What the f*** moment of the week – A “Jai Ho” trend is taking over TikTok. 

Upcoming Events

• Aug 11 - PopShift Summer New York Sunset is this Sunday at Somewhere NoWhere from 4:00 - 9:00 PM EST. Featuring DJ performances from Yash, Anupya, Tribahl, SE3K. ( Get Tickets )

• Aug 13 / Aug 14 - Loca Loka Tequila x PopShift Mixer - Los Angeles / New York City.

  • With Special Guests, Anirudh Ravichander and Rana Daggubati

  • Please fill out this form to join the waitlist if you are interested in attending.

Written by Raghu Alla