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Meesha Shafi and Arooj Aftab have submitted their latest projects for Grammy consideration, marking yet another step in their international musical journeys.

Shafi, who released her most radical work yet, Khilnay Ko, earlier this year, has submitted it to the Recording Academy in three categories: Best Global Music Album, Best Global Music Performance, and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical).

The album, which dismantles pop conventions with experimental soundscapes and emotionally charged lyricism, marked a sharp turn for Shafi. In Khilnay Ko, she traded mainstream appeal for complete creative freedom — layering poetry, performance, and provocation into something both polarising and powerful. The 11 songs of 47 minutes invite you to sit with your grief, spiral through it, and emerge, somehow, resolved.

Meanwhile, Aftab, fresh off the success of Raat Ki Rani, has submitted the Khruangbin remix of the album’s title track for consideration in the Best Remixed Recording category.

The remix, a collaboration with the Texas-based psychedelic trio, transforms the original’s languid, nocturnal mood into a lush, groove-driven reimagining, while keeping Aftab’s ethereal vocals at its centre.

Raat Ki Rani released in 2024, explored themes of intimacy, desire and quiet control, with Aftab’s signature sound floating between stillness and surrender. The album, caressing, controlling and all-consuming, deepened her place in the global music landscape, one she’s been steadily building since her Grammy win in 2022.

Here’s hoping their work is considered in the categories for the 2026 Grammy Awards, which will take place on February 1. The first round of voting is underway through October 15. The online entry process for the Grammys is still open for anyone wishing to submit their work.