Adeel Kuresii AKA Raf Saperra is a second-generation, British-South Asian singer/songwriter born in South-London. He started his music career in Folk and South Asian Folk music by singing songs of Punjabi music legends such as Surjit Bindrakhia, Kuldeep Manak, Kulwinder Dhillon and uploaded them on his YouTube channel.
In 2020, he released his first commercial track, 'G’lassy Riddim' featuring G-Funk and a year later, he came came out with tracks like ‘Milli-1 Life’ and ‘Snake Charmer’ which received a huge response from the audience. His last track, NLS was a UK garage-style production also reflecting sounds of Punjabi garage, a subgenre dating back to the early 2000s.The subgenre's origins are traced in the 2021 Ministry of Sound documentary, The Birth of Punjabi Garage, which was co-produced by the DJ Yung Singh.
Yung has been a vital supporter of Saperra’s musical journey and also appeared in the NLS music video. Having become the epitome of iconic British-Punjabi music, Raf's tracks are also played in DJ Yung's coveted sets in Glastonbury and Berghain along with DJ Jyoti Singh's set in the wildly popular bathroom sessions of HÖR Berlin.
Fresh out the studio, Raf released his latest track a few days ago called Modern Mirza along with a music video with the underground record label, FatBoy Records. The single is from the debut Raf-Saperra mixtape, 'Ruff Around The Edges'. Written by Roopstah Rhymez, produced by Bobby Kang and mixed by Max Gilkes, 'Modern Mirza' is an old-school NY-style hip-hop track with scratched samples and a classic, catchy bassline.
The music video also has the visual quality of old hip-hop videos that focused on the locale of the rapper. In Raf's video he's seen singing on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan taking us into the lives of the native people and their culture. It's the artists tribute to his roots and his musical history with Punjabi folk music.
Follow Raf Saperra's music here and watch the music video below.
Video Credits:
Director & Editor: Raf-Saperra
D.O.P (Performance): Imran Ali
D.O.P (Video Journalism): Sajjad Ali
Camera Asst: Qurban Ali, Afzal Ali & Ali Naqi
Focus Puller: Kamran Goga Gaffer: Shahbaz Mughal
Light Team: Qasim Ali, Asad Wahab, Bota, Khurram, Imran, Sonu Shah
Colour Gradist: Desmond Production
Coordination: Jazba Entertainment
Wardrobe: Rastah
Stylist : Umair Sajid
Styling Assistance: Aena W.Dhojki
Models: Azariah Naseeb & Howra Batool
Photographer: The Edge (Sandhu Saab!)
Makeup: Nabeel
Special Thanks: Adil Awan, Wahab Awan, Kamran Amjad , Saif Ullah, Iqra Afzal & Rastah Team