A multi talented singer with a positive take on everything, Aarif Shakeel Lolabi has made music as the soundtrack of his life.

Aarif Shakeel Lolabi was born on 1rst January, 1998 in a remote village of  Kupwara district, in North Kashmir, Tankipora Khurhama (North) Lolab, Jammu and Kashmir. Aarif Shakeel's father's name is Shakeel Ahmed Khatana and mother's name Noor Jahan. Aarif Shakeel's real name is Aarif Hussain Khatana and pentecostal Shakeel Lolabi. He did his schooling from his village school. After the sad demise of his mother while he was in his third standard, Aarif started feeling lonely and the only hope he had was music. As Aarif started growing up in age, his music started growing within him. He never let it go. It became quite clear to him that music was what he wanted to pursue as a career in life. Currently, he is in his final year of college studying music and its fundamentals.

In 2008, Aarif enrolled in the Government Boys High School Kuligam (North) Lolab after receiving up to fifth grade education from the Government S.S.A Primary School in his village Tankipora Khurhama. After passing the tenth class exam, Aarif entered the Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Maidanpora, North Lolab in 2013, from where he passed twelfth class.

Aarif has been very fond of singing since childhood. He is a professional singer, and also an artist, actor, musician, composer,  performer and songwriter. He started his music career in 2008. Aarif used to listen to Classical music, Ghazals, Sufi, Folk and Bollywood songs on YouTube and received his basic music training with the help of YouTube. In 2018, for professional training in music, he moved to the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, University of Kashmir, Srinagar. He has now published his own songs and videos on social sites like Facebook, YouTube etc.

Talking about struggles in life, Aarif says there are always positives and negatives in life but one has to work hard and focus on the good part. He says that difficulties are a part of life, and there is no fun in attaining success without a little taste of difficulties.

Aarif’s role model in life is his father. Despite working as a labourer and having financial instability, his father never said no to Aarif for anything that he ever wanted in life. He was always like a friend to him, and always motivated him to achieve great success in life. He is very grateful to have a father like him.

For artists, Aarif feels experience holds a greater value than education. He says that an artist must have knowledge about his work and he must be aware about what he is performing but since it is a practical field, nothing can replace experience as an artist may have to present themselves in front of an audience, where experience counts the most.

Welcoming the youngsters to the field of music, Aarif says that the most important aspect of any art is the practice of it. He advises them to practice regularly and refrain from things that can harm their performing abilities. Secondly, he advises them to always continue their studies as it is very important for an artist to be well educated too.

Talking about his childhood, Aarif says that having an older and a younger sibling, he used to be very notorious and have fun with them. But he learned his lesson once, when he accidentally hit his father with a pebble and injured him. Since then, Aarif became sincere and responsible.

Aarif says that he loves music so much that even if he is sent back in time a thousand times, he would still always choose music as his career and nothing else.

Addressing the global pandemic situation, Aarif says that there was a lot of panic around the entire world and many people lost their lives but on the positive side, the efforts made by the government to ensure education for all the children and helping businesses grow, are commendable.

On the note of leadership skills, Aarif says he does not consider himself a leader because he is still learning, and has a lot more left to learn.

In his free time, Aarif likes to spend quality time with his family. Other than that, all he does is practice his music with his harmonium and writes Shayaris.