Khalid Hussein, the qawwali maestro
AS a child, Khalid Hussein was intrigued by music – in particular, the exceptional ability of his father to pen and belt out qawwalis that left him in awe.
Hailing from a generational farming family, Hussein was surrounded by music all his life, courtesy of his father, Tahir Hussein. Such was his interest in singing that whenever there was an opportunity, he would sing.
“I started singing from Class One or Class Two, and I used to sing film songs. If someone played the harmonium during a wedding, I would also sing there,” the 54-year-old said.
During his childhood, he split his time between Labasa and Navua.
“The atmosphere was such that I was always involved with music, and that’s how I got started as well.”
Initially, Hussein said his interest in music swayed towards ghazals, as thought-provoking lyricism and melodies stirred his inner singer into existence.
However, gaining mastery over ghazals proved to be more difficult because, as he would later find out, it was a particularly difficult form of music.
“My interests leaned towards ghazals, and this is a hard form of music, so my father sent me to learn elsewhere, from another qawwal Uma Dutt.
“He was very famous. He used to play the harmonium very well and he sang very well, so I used to go to him to learn.
“I started playing (the harmonium) and singing on my own when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I admired my father a lot, but now I have reached a stage where people are following me.
“At that time, there weren’t much challenges, but I was interested in ghazals but my father sang qawwalis, so when I asked him how to write or sing certain tunes, he couldn’t explain it to me very well, so he sent me to Uma Dutt kaka.
“In 1994, there was a group that came from India that had talented qawwals like Rashida Khatoon and Kalandar Azad.
“These were international artists who had a show here. Their promoter at that time reached out and I had the opportunity to have a muqabla (challenge) organised.
“That was a career highlight, and it was the first time a qawwali competition had taken place at Subrail Park.”
The opportunity to mingle with some famous names also gave him the ability to fine tune his skills in music, learning step-by-step how to play instruments the way professionals do.
During the time he spent with these artists, Hussein saw just how talented they were, not just in singing or playing instruments but also their ability to string together a verse and make it sound phenomenal.
It also propelled him to continue learning skills that would make him a household name to all qawwali enthusiasts in Fiji and abroad.
“When I went to New Zealand, I learnt classical music. I was going back and forth, and I had never worked in Fiji. I had a certificate from the cultural centre, and I had albums under the recording company, so I got a PR there.
“Nowadays, I also sing and promote musicians from Fiji to come and perform in New Zealand. I have also travelled and shared the stage with so many talented individuals.”
However, he also said the challenge for qawwali in Fiji is to maintain the sanctity of the art, and ensure the audience is able to understand and appreciate the genre.
“The challenge is that the taste of the audience also has to be considered, because the grassroots people prefer to listen to simple music. When I sing some difficult Urdu words, I usually explain the meaning before so the audience is able to enjoy it.
“My focus is that ten interested listeners are better than 100 disinterested listeners. Now, if people use things like swears in their qawwali, your name will be spread around Fiji overnight but our style of singing, it will take about five to 10 years just to reach that place.
“So, this is a difficult path, but this is a good path to ensuring your name lives on. My father was a great poet and he taught me the way of writing.
“However, writing ghazals is still a challenge because you have to say a lot in just two lines, it’s all about engaging your audience.”
Mr Hussein said even as young people were not too interested in singing, there were still songs they could enjoy if they liked poetry.
“Nowadays, there are many nice Bollywood songs that are light ghazals, such as Main Rang Sharbaton Ka, and a lot of artists here are singing this, so it’s up to the artist on what they are giving the audience.”
His hope now is to continue singing as long as he can, and learning newer and better skills to enhance his presence as a performer.
My focus is that ten interested listeners are better than 100 disinterested listeners. Now, if people use things like swears in their qawwali, your name will be spread around Fiji overnight but our style of singing, it will take about five to 10 years just to reach that place.
– Khalid Hussein