Habib Wahid, better known as Haibba, is a famous Bangladeshi composer and musician. He is notable for his fusion of traditional Bangla folk music with contemporary techno and urban beats. He takes folk music and remixes with popular music forms. He takes songs of composers like Hason Raja, Shah Abdul Karim, Amir Uddin and others and remixes the tunes with hip-hop, reggae, and rap. His albums have sold at least 15 million copies.
Life and career
Habib's father Ferdous Wahid was a famous artist of Bangla pop music in the 1970s and 1980s. Habib started to pick up tunes on his father's keyboard from the time he was a little boy. Later, he studied music and audio engineering at the School of Audio Engineering in London.
Habib conceived his first folk-remix album Krishno while he was still a student in London. "I had the concept and even the tracks were arranged and was looking for a vocalist," he said. Kaya, the vocalist Habib was looking for is a Sylheti restaurant owner in London and amateur singer. The first few songs arising from their collaboration proved to be unexpected hits on the underground scene, both in London and in Dhaka. Krishno was a success when it was eventually released in Bangladesh, its unique blend of age-old folk and modern electronica introducing a radically new sound to the Dhaka music scene.
Habib has released six more albums: Maya (2004), Moina Go... (2005), Shono! (2006), Panjabiwala (2007), Bolchhi Tomake (2008) and Obosheshe (2008). He has featured new voices in all of his albums. Besides Kaya, he has showcased singers such as Helal, Julie, Konica, Nirjhor, Shireen (in Panjabiwala) and Nancy in these albums. Habib first debuted as a vocal in "Moina Go..." where he performed two soft singles. He also has his father, Ferdous Wahid singing a song in that album. All the rap, hip-hop and reggae type add-ins of that album were done by Kunle.
Habib has done many international tours. Outer countries shows were successful, because, he totally copied their hip-hop music, fusion,etc. But most of the music lover suspect him for import hip-hop, rap, fusion in traditional Bangla music. Once Sabina Yasmin (One of the greatest legend of Bangladeshi music era) stated that 'Who gave Habib the right, for remixing our own cultural asset, song of great Folk singer, like Hason Raja or Shah Abdul Karim, with such a kind of worst sound? He had just a merit of remixing, ok, go and remix modern pop song, why these asset?'. Many music producer suspected that, it's Habib, who started this strange fusion culture in modern pop era of Bangladesh.
He composes music(and often sings) in commercials and films. Most of his songs got a longtime airplay, and earned a huge commercial success.
Background Information:
Birth name - Habib Wahid
Also known as - Habib
Nick names - Voice Doctor, BD-A.R.Rahman
Born - October 15, 1978 (age 29)
Origin - Dhaka, Bangladesh
Genre(s) - Fusion, Folk, Techno, Pop
Occupation(s) - Singer, Composer
Years active: 2003 – Present
Album:
Krishno (2003) - Habib featuring Kaya
Maya (2004) - Habib featuring Kaya & Helal
Moina Go... (2005) - Habib
Shono! (2006) - Habib
Panjabiwala (2007) - Habib featuring Shireen
Bolchhi Tomake... (2008) - Habib
Obosheshe ... (2008) - Habib & Ferdous Wahid
