Bilal Saeed says songs are a way to put across strong messages

• The Umbrella, a song by rapper Fateh Singh and Pakistani singer Bilal Saeed, tackles the touchy subject of body shaming.
• The artist brought up this subject since he firmly thinks that “beauty is subjective.”
• The performer, who has also worked on popular songs in India, admits to having some reservations about addressing such a delicate subject.

The Umbrella, a song by rapper Fateh Singh and Pakistani singer Bilal Saeed, tackles the touchy subject of body shaming. The artist brought up this subject since he firmly thinks that “beauty is subjective.”

“Hume aisa lagta hai jo humare jaisa nahin hai, ya jo hume samajh nahin aa raha, woh hona hi nahin chahiye. I don’t like that. I have always believed that beauty is a subjective matter. And songs are the only way to make people accept strong messages like body shaming and body positivity. It is essential to make people comfortable in their own skin. They should believe that they can be whoever they want to be and live however they want to. It’s their choice,” he explains.

Ask him if he has ever been subjected to body shaming himself, and the Baari singer says, “There have been no such incidents, thankfully. But I wanted to highlight this issue because with the advent of social media, people do not think before trolling. I wanted to make an impact with my song.”

The performer, who has also worked on popular songs in India, admits to having some reservations about addressing such a delicate subject. He shares, “A gift that comes with being an artiste is that you know…you understand to what extent you can convey a message and where the line should be drawn. So I didn’t face that issue because I am also very sensitive as an artiste. Also, while I am addressing the social issue in the video, the song is very entertaining. In fact, that was the whole idea -to not make a social issue-based song and yet convey our message. And I think we did it really well,” he concludes.