The drama between Aima Baig and Sara Raza Khan explained

If you’re chronically online and interested in the dramatic lives of Pakistani celebrities, you may have heard of an internet spat between singers Aima Baig and Sara Raza Khan. If you are neither of those things, let us give you the lowdown on what’s been going on.

Like a tennis match — albeit a rather tame one — there has been a lot of back and forth. It all started when Khan appeared on Zabardast with Wasi Shah, where she was asked what percentage of current singers were actually singers and how many were performers. Not a leading question, we think. However, Khan was quick to name names and said, “If the option of autotune was removed, Aima Baig wouldn’t be a singer, like many others.”

She continued that people could say they liked someone as an entertainer, actor, model or simply because of their looks. Khan said that if she were to make a film, she would definitely choose someone like Mehwish Hayat for an “item song” but never as a singer.

“If somebody is asking her to sing, I think they need some help,” she said, making a circular motion with her finger pointed towards her temple.

Brutal, but the clip went viral.

Soon after, singer Momina Mustehsan chimed in. She commented on Niche Lifestyle’s post, “Not that I have to say it, but that’s not true. Aima sings very well, and so does Sara. Neither of them need autotune.”

We were all for this because after one woman tearing down another, some good old solidarity is exactly what the Pakistani music scene needed.

Baig, however, was not going down without a fight, and she did that in the most perfect way for someone being accused of using autotune — she posted a casual Instagram story, singing her Coke Studio song ‘Baazi’. No instruments, no fancy equipment, just her vocals.

You’d hope the quarrel ended there, right? WRONG. It continued.

Baig then posted a story on Instagram in which she took a shot at Khan and said she accepts however much talent God has given her. “Who is this aunty? Actually, forget it, I’m going to enjoy my vacation, LOL,” she wrote.

Khan then took to her stories, not to do some damage control, but the opposite. She wrote, “She [Baig] must be a great person for her family and friends but when I was asked to rate her as a singer I said what is [the] ultimate truth.”

There was no backing down, but, we couldn’t help but notice that there was a slight change in her words. In the original interview, the host had asked her to not take names and give a percentage, Khan however, had brought up Baig (and Hayat) out of seemingly nowhere.

The ‘Jiya Karay’ singer maintained that she would never change her words — slightly ironic.

Both artists reshared many clips of themselves singing, or fans showering them with love and support, but at the end of the day(s), Baig had had enough. To quote Taylor Swift, Baig would “very much like to be excluded from this narrative.”

The ‘Groove Mera’ singer asked people to leave her alone and “live and let live”. Calling Khan an “aunty” once again — which was, in our opinion, unnecessarily catty — Baig said her name was being used for attention and views.

“To show hatred for another female artist knowing we only have few was a really sad thing,” she wrote on her Instagram story. Baig wished Khan happiness and urged people to give her attention so “she’ll stop hating other female artists that we have.”

We can’t help but agree with Baig here. Tearing other women down to build yourself up is so not the vibe for 2024 — we’ve moved way past that. Whatever Khan wanted to say, could’ve been said in a more diplomatic and kinder way — without other people being dragged into the comment.

Both singers are incredibly talented in their own right, and it is high time Pakistani women support each other, because we have to have each others’ backs!