Talha Anjum Says “Pray Hard, Work Harder” And Kept His Spotify Top Spot

He also spoke out against his critics, calling out the media and the industry for trying to bring him down and make people dislike him just for being himself. Anjum shared that he faced boycotts, bans, small-scale insults, legal warnings, fake news stories, and false claims from those who wanted to see him fail.

But he added that even with all their little plans, Urdu rap is still on top—just like it was a year ago. He ended his message by telling those who want him to fail to “pray hard and work harder,” and said he’ll see them again next year.

Anjum also had big commercial success this year with his album My Terrible Mind, which got nearly 84 million streams on Spotify. His most popular song of the year, “Departure Lane,” had 46 million streams from 7.5 million listeners—about six streams per listener on average.

The year also brought controversy for the rapper, especially during his November concert in Kathmandu. A fan gave him an Indian flag, and Anjum put it over his shoulders. Indian listeners were his biggest group of fans from any country this year.

Anjum later said his on-stage gesture was a sign of respect and love. He even said he would do it again in a post on X that he has since deleted.

But people had mixed feelings about it. Many thought the act was not right because Pakistan and India have tense relations right now. After facing tough questions from TV anchor Nadia Khan, Anjum apologized to his Pakistani fans.